


Hugo Weasley and the Glory of Proving Yourself

by Parselmouth_bloodtraitor



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Harry Potter Next Generation, Humor, Insecurity, Multi, Romance, and him wanting to prove himself, and oh yeah theres terrible evil plans afoot, its basically about hugo weasley, like a shitload of insecurity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2013-02-09
Packaged: 2017-11-22 08:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/607625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parselmouth_bloodtraitor/pseuds/Parselmouth_bloodtraitor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hugo's grades were average at best and he couldn't make the quidditch team. He felt that he was nothing compared to his family, and all he wanted was the chance to prove himself to be just as powerful. So when he gets entered into the Quawizard Tournament how he could he turn down the chance that finally presented itself...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Hugo Weasley was not just another boy. People would never just pass him in the street completely indifferent. No, he was Hugo _Weasley_. Which meant that people had to stop and stare everytime they saw him, and - more importantly - his family that stood next to him.

A name wasn't just a name in the wizarding world, espically after a war. Even though it had been roughly 25 years since the war had concluded, everyone still seemed wound up about. Which meant everytime a Weasley or Potter left the house, reporters from the Daily Prophet had to follow them around constantly, leaving them no privacy. When Bill and Fleur took their first daughter, Victoire - who was the oldest of the Weasley family - to get her first wand and school supplies, the newspapers filled their stories with the Weasley name: "Victoire Weasley Begins Her Hogwarts Adventure", "The First of the Weasley Family Buys Her First Wand", and "Bill and Fleur Weasley's Daughter Buys her Hogwarts Supplies - A Promise that this Year at Hogwarts will be an Interesting One." And when Victoire got engaged to Teddy, well, the reporters practically stalked the couple - and still are to this day.

Hugo Weasley thought, while some of the stories were rather pointless and stupid, that the attention was not as bad as all the other family members complained it was. He actually liked the attention that the reporters showered him with - it made him feel like that he wasn't as seperated from the family as he felt he was.

Why would he ever feel that he was seperated from his family, you ask? Well, it has to do with the fact that he was a Hufflepuff. It wasn't that he was the only Hufflepuff of the family - Teddy Lupin and Molly Weasley had both been in the house - but he had always felt that him being in that house was _different_. Both Teddy and Molly had parents that were in Hufflepuff - both of it being their mothers in that house - but Hugo didn't have any parents that were in Hufflepuff. His parents were both in _Gryffindor._

His parents continued to tell him that it didn't make any difference, that they still loved him the same as before. While Hugo wanted to believe them, he knew that he couldn't. How could they possibly be proud of him? He has done nothing for the family name. Rose, his older sister of 2 years, sure has, though. She was sorted into Gryffindor - and, according to Albus, the hat had barely touched her head before it shouted out the house - which made their parents beam with pride enough as it is. But then she went on to please them. She got top marks in her classes, beating Malfoy out so that she was impressing father; she was made a prefect, to the happiness of both their parents as they were both prefects in their schooling years; she was made quidditch captain, making father proud; and just this year she was made Head Girl, which made mother smile so widely.

And what has Hugo done? _Nothing._ He tried out for quidditch, and didn't even make the bloody team in second year. His grades were barely passing as it was, and that was with his genius sister's help! He believed that there was no way that his parents could possibly be proud of him when he had all of his family members to be compared to.

With Rose, Victoire, and Molly getting top grades; with James, Fred, Roxanne, and Dominique pulling the most legendary pranks that will most likely be remembered for years to come in Hogwarts history; with Lily, Louis, and Lucy being perfectly happy about everything; even with Albus being the only Slytherin in the family and best friends with Scorpius Malfoy, he is still noticed and loved more than Hugo is and ever will be!

Yes, Hugo did like the attention that the Prophet reporters gave him. It made him feel wanted and loved.

Right now though, Hugo was sad that he the attention that he treasured every summer from the reporters was coming to end. It was his first day back from Hogwarts and he already felt invisible. It didn't help that none of his family members were no longer in house, since Molly graduated last year. All Hugo had left of his family members were Lily and Rose in Gryffindor, and Albus in Slytherin.

Hugo only felt more alone at the thought.

"Hugo!" That was the voice of Hugo's best friend, Nicole Fosnot, calling his name from down the corridor to get his attention. When Hugo didn't respond, Nicole rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation of her best friend, and then caved in and ran after him. "Hugo, when the hell did you get so fucking fast?"

"When I'd rather be alone." His voice sounded hollow and empty, but it didn't worry Nicole. Hugo was usually like this after the summer and holiday breaks from school. She figured that this meant their newly made tradition must be into effect to help cheer him up.

"Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and dragging him in a different direction than his dorm room.

"But I-" he tried to protest, but Nicole would have none of it.

"I am not going to let you go to dorm room just to sulk like you always do the first day we get back from a holiday break!"

Hugo just looked at her in shock that she knew that.

Nicole rolled her eyes at his surprise. "Oh please, Hugo, I'm your _best friend_. Of course I'm going to notice when you are depressed - if even for a day - and learn to put two and two together. Just because your family hasn't picked up on it yet doesn't mean that I am just as ignorant."

Hugo didn't know what to say, so he just closed his mouth and let her drag him to wherever she was planning to take him.

"The kitchens? Really?" He asked amused as Nicole let go of his hand to tickle the pear and open the door.

"Yes, _really._ I know that there is no way I will be able to convince you to go to the Great Hall, so I am not going to let you starve to death all alone in your room."

"I do not-" Nicole cut him off with a pointed, and Hugo just closed his mouth and looked down at the ground - suddenly finding that they carpet was rather interesting.

"Miss Fosnot!" The elves squeaked out, "you have come again!"

"Again?" Hugo asked amused once again.

"I come here sometimes, just to relax and hang out..." _Sometimes cry my eyes out_ , she thought, but did not dare to speak it out loud. "Anyways, what do you want to eat?"

"I don't know... I'm fine really... not really hungry right now."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Why do I even bother asking you anymore? I swear, I know you better than you do! Blinky," she said, signally the small elf that stood before her with wide eyes, "get us some bacon please."

"Of course Miss Fosnot! So kind Miss Fosnot is! Blinky will sure get Miss Fosnot some bacon, as quickly as Blinky can!" The elf squealed as it raced back into the kitchens.

Hugo smirked, "Well, she was sure... enthusiastic?"

"Yeah... Blinky is one of the more 'enthusiastic' elves as you put it, but she is one of the most caring and comforting elves as well. And, anyways, being enthusiastic isn't necessarily a bad thing..." Nicole's voice trailed off.

Hugo sighed, this was a losing battle. "So where do we sit?"

Nicole smiled and grabbed his hand again, leading him over to the chairs that were somewhat hidden in a corner, "Come on."

Hugo took the empty seat across from Nicole and waited patiently for the bacon to come. "Do they usually act like this?" he asked Nicole, since the elves were moving around so quickly and food ingrediants seemed to litterally be flying through the air. Hugo even swore that he saw 2 elves fighting over a ham to make into bacon.

"Yeah. I know that it seems a little crazy at first, but you get used to it after a while. I find it rather cute now," Nicole said with a sigh.

"Blinky has the bacon Miss Fosnot ask for!" Blinky squeaked out as he placed a plate of bacon that held nearly 3 feet high of bacon.

"Holy shit..." Hugo breathed while Nicole told the elves her thanks. Hugo didn't wait two more seconds before he started scarfing down the bacon by handfuls.

"That can't be healthy," Nicole told him with a kind smile, "or human." He just scowled at her while he continued to devour the bacon at incredible speed.

Nicole couldn't help but linger on his features while he was momentarily distracted. His fiery red hair always drew the eye to him in a crowd, even though his hair had slight brown tints to them. He had light blue eyes that looked almost clear, and a long nose. And even though she was the same age as him, he towered over her in height, being very lanky in his build. Freckles lined his face, and Nicole had been able to count 26 before Hugo looked away from his bacon and caught her staring. A pink tinge colored over her cheeks and she grabbed a piece of bacon from the table to look occupied and not as embarassed as she felt.

Hugo couldn't help bit notice the blush rush over her cheeks, even though she tried her best to cover it up with her blonde bangs. Her green eyes were focused on a piece of bacon in her hand, but it didn't seem that she was intent on eating it at the moment.

They both just ate together in silence for the rest of the time. To Nicole it was an awkward silence, but Hugo couldn't understand why she was being so quiet all of a sudden. Nicole couldn't help but feel that it was completely obvious, but yet Hugo was entirely oblivious. _He couldn't see what was so plainly right in front of his face._

* * *

"Oh my God! You guys totally missed it!" Hugo and Nicole's fellow Hufflepuff friend, Henry Swanson, told them as they entered the common room together.

"Missed what?" Nicole asked as she at on the common room couch. The Hufflpuff common room was round, earthy and low-ceilinged, welcoming, warm and sunny place. There were tons of plants decorated around the room, making the common room very popular since it smelled so nice. There were lots of yellow hangings, burnished copper, and overstuffed sofas and armchairs upholstered in yellow and black - one of which that Nicole was currently sitting on and trying to do her Charms homework on. With OWLS coming up this year, she was beyond frustrated with her difficult school work.

"At dinner! Oh my God, Headmistress McGonnagal made the most important announcement ever!"

"And that announcement was...?" Hugo said, in an attempt to get the answer out of Henry quicker.

No such luck it appeared, as Henry just smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Gosh, I am feeling tired" (insert totally fake yawn here) "you know, I will just tell you guys tomorrow."

"Henry!" Nicole whined, "dude, come on, stop being so dramatic! Just get on with it and tell us what the goddamn announcement was."

"Touchy," Henry teased.

"Dude, come on," Hugo pleaded with his best friend.

"Maybe if you get on your knees and beg to me; maybe then I will consider it." Henry's smirk was huge now. Nicole threw a yellow pillow with a black badger sewn onto it at him. It hit him square in the face causing him to stumble back slightly in shock. "Now what was that for?"

"Oh don't even try your innocent act and tell us what we missed already," Nicole said, her eyes never leaving the parchment on her lap as she scribbled on it quickly.

"Well, I guess I will start with the bad news first then," Henry then faced Hugo, "Quidditch is canceled this year."

"What! No!" Hugo fell onto the yellow plush couch and groaned. This was the second time (his second year being the first time) that Hugo was going to try out for the Quidditch team, since half the team had graduated the year before and the captain must be desperate for team members - the chances of Hugo actually getting on the team was as high as it was ever going to be. "Well that just ruined my day."

"Don't be too sure of that yet Hugo. If he is starting out with the bad news, obviously there has to be good news to follow it up," Nicole said, still focused upon her homework. She sighed right afterwards though, and stuffed the parchment back into her bag, planning on waiting until the last minute to accomplish it like she usually did.

"Thanks for taking all the fun out of watching him suffer, oh wise one," Henry said flatly while Hugo was the one to thrown a pillow at him.

"So what's the good news then?" Hugo asked.

"Well, I'm guessing that your parents have told you about the Triwizard Tournament, right?" Henry looked excited now.

"The what?" Nicole asked, while Hugo nodded enthusiastically.

"Well, we are not hosting the Triwizard tournament this year-"

"Then why did you even bring it up?" Hugo interupted. Nicole still looked confused.

"You didn't let me finish. What I was saying was that we are no hosting the _Triwizard Tournament_ this year, but we are hosting the _QuaWizard Tournament."_

"Quawizard? God, if I didn't know better I would say that you two are making up words," Nicole mumbled under her breath.

"Quawizard? As in like, _4_ wizards instead of just _3?"_ Hugo asked Henry, not paying attention to whatever Nicole was mumbling.

"Yes! And instead of the competitors coming from different schools, each contestant will be picked from each house!"

"Why do you look like you are going to burst into pieces from happiness? What, do you plan on putting your name in the goblet?"

"Even if I _wanted_ to I couldn't, the age restriction is for students 17 and up, and I rather like staying alive thank you very much."

"Hey! Guys! Yeah, remember me? Nicole? You know, the girl who has been your best friend since first year? Yeah, that girl. Well she is a muggleborn and has absolutely no idea what a Triwizard or Quawizard Tournament and would really like to figure it out!" Nicole's patience wore thin quickly.

Hugo sighed, and looked up at Henry with pleading eyes. "You want to take this one?"

Henry smirked. "Nah, I think you would do a better job explaining it then I ever could." With that, he walked down the tunnel to his dormitory, leaving Hugo the difficult task of explaining to Nicole yet another wizarding custom. He made a note to himself that, when he saw Henry later, he would kill him.

* * *

"Well it sure does sound... intriguing..."

"Intriguing?" Hugo asked.

"Well, I mean, it just sounds so... so..." Nicole eyes lit up dangerously, "rewarding."

"Rewarding?"

"Etneral glory, and fame, and gosh so much galleons, and-"

"Death? Pain? Don't forget about how dangerous this competition is, Nicole. The last thing I need is for you to find a way to trick the goblet and get yourself killed in the competition!"

"Please, I could never find a way to trick the goblet." Nicole dismissed the idea.

"Really? _Really?_ That's the _only_ reason that you won't enter the competition, _the only reason!_ No, not because it is incredibly dangerous, or because people get killed in the tournament all the time, but _because_ _you can't trick the goblet into letting you get in."_

"Stop thinking so negatively about it! Yeah, sure, its dangerous, but what about everything else? What about if you could win? Wouldn't you want the fame?"

"People already know who I am - reporters make sure of that."

"What about the galleons?"

"There are other people who have a better use for it than me."

"What about etneral glory?"

"I'm always going to be a Weasley, people will always know me for the great deeds my parents did."

A smile crept onto Nicole's lips. "What about proving that you are indeed your parent's children? What about proving that you _truly are_ a Weasley, and can do just as great things as your mother, and father, and sister. What about the _glory_ of proving yourself to everyone."

Hugo would have been lying if he told Nicole that it the idea wasn't tempting, so he decided that it was best if he just did not speak. He just shook his head at his friend, and briefly wondered how she became a Hufflepuff when she sounded so much like a Slytherin at the moment. "You're crazy," he said eventually, "to want to die for power; that is just insane."

Nicole sighed. It was pointless to try and explain this to him. "Yeah, sure, I guess you're right. Well, I'm going to bed, I'm tired. See you tomorrow."

Hugo watched her leave, contemplating her words that she had just spoken. _'Etneral glory... fame... galleons... the_ glory _of proving yourself to everyone.'_

Yeah, Hugo loved to be in the spotlight, and loved the flash of the camera as a reporter took a photo of him to give him just that - the chance to be in the spotlight and noticed. Hugo thought that no one really paid attention to him much in his family, since he had never done anything big enough to be noticed above all the other Weasley-Potter children. So to Hugo, the thought of being known as the winner of the Quawizard Cup sounded... amazing.

Hugo quickly shook off all of his crazy thoughts. _Nicole must really be rubbing off on me too much,_ he thought briefly before retreating to his own dorm room to go to bed. _Entering the competition is impossible... and_ stupid. _I don't want to die because I was obessed with getting power - that's how Voldemort died of all people! Well, at least, it will be fun to watch I guess._


	2. Chapter 2

Hugo stared pointlessly at the crystal ball. Nicole followed his lead, and rested her head on the table as she looked it with all her might. It was nothing but a swirl of white fog inside. How people could possibly predict the future from this piece of shit confused Nicole enough as it was, the last thing she needed was to have to try and predict it herself. She usually would just fake some sort of prediction, as everyone else in the class did when professor Trelawnry walked by them. If one made their prediction wild and tragic enough, it was rather easy to get an O in the class.

"You know," Nicole informed Hugo, "you are lucky to have a friend like me."

Hugo sighed. "Yes, you remind me everytime we are in this class-"

Nicole interrupted him anyway, no matter how uninterested he sounded or how many times she had told him before. "Most people would have dropped this class years ago once they found out how pointless it was, but no, I didn't. No, when Trelawnry predicts my death, and _my death only_ , I shut up and listen to her anyway no matter how stupid it is, and stay in to this class with you."

"Yeah, yeah, you are a great friend. Now hurry up and predict your death, she is coming this way!"

Nicole gave Hugo a pointed look, but obliged nonetheless. "I think that I see something... I see myself... and there is a..." Nicole rushed to think of something to say, and referred back to the creature that she had just learned about in Care of Magical Creatures just the lesson before this one, "there is a Kelpie with me. It is in the form of a horse, and I am riding on the back of it - I don't think that I know that is not just a regular horse. Now it is dragging me over to the lake, and now it has pulled me under the water with it. And now... oh gosh, now there is blood seeping up to the top of the lake." Nicole tried her best to look frightened and worried, and Hugo was on the verge of tears - from holding back his laughter.

Trelawnry rushed over as soon as she heard the death of a student being predicted. She peeked at their crystal ball, and then turned to Nicole. "Oh, such an awful fate that is in store for you! A Kelpie, nonetheless! Well I would make sure that you know how to protect yourself from such a dangerous creature! I would hate to see such a promising young Seer as yourself succumb to such a death as this - oh, but fate is fate! Nothing can stop it and there is an undeniable amount of tragedy lying in your future as you can so clearly tell by looking at the crystal ball," she grabbed Nicole's shoulder and looked down at her with sad eyes, "I wish you good luck in your future."

"No, Alexa, clearly this crystal ball is showing my sister Jennifer dying a painful death by the killing curse! Oh my god, someone is going to kill my sister!" Sarah Auld squealed out as she looked at her Slytherin dorm roomie, Alexa Feldman. Trelawnry quickly rushed over to the table as soon as she heard. Sarah was in hysterics and crying wildly, apparently believing the her prediction was indeed going to come true.

As soon as Trelawnry was out of hearing range, Hugo began to laugh out loud. "That was brilliant Nicole! A Kelpie! Ha! As always I am impressed by your ability to make up stories on the spot - and about your own death! And her reaction was priceless: ' _Well I would make sure that you know how to protect yourself from such a dangerous creature! I_ _would hate to see such a promising young Seer as yourself succumb to such an awful fate,'_ Ha, you really got her wrapped around your finger."

Unlike Hugo though, Nicole was not laughing - she was fuming. "She must think that I am some sort of idoit! Like I am just another first year that needs protection since I have no idea what I am doing! I am a _fifth year,_ not some idoit _first year!_ I know how to protect myself from a goddamn Kelpie! All you need to do is use a simple Placement Charm to put a bridle over it's head and then it would be rendered harmless!" Nicole was nearly growling at Trelawnry behind her back.

"Woah, calm down there. It's just Trelawnry - don't let what she says bother her. She never has any idea what she is talking about anyway. She wouldn't know intellengence if it hit her in the face."

 _Did he just call me smart?_ Nicole refused to let her heart flutter at the thought, and only looked at Hugo curiously for a moment.

Hugo coughed and looked away while loosening his tie, trying to ignore Nicole's sudden intense stares directed at him. "So... are you excited to hear who will be in the competition tomorrow at lunch?"

"Well it would be inhuman if I wasn't at least curious. Hey, your sister is 17, right? And so is your cousin Albus, right?" Hugo nodded. " Do you think that they might have entered themselves into the competition?"

Hugo wasn't sure whether to laugh at her question or look at her in horror that she might even think that in the first place.

"Y-you're kidding, right?" Hugo eventually decided on saying.

Nicole shook her head and looked at him with wide eyes, "well, why wouldn't they? They are of age and can do whatever the hell they want - why not enter the competition?"

Hugo thought about her question seriously for a moment. "If I were to consider that question, I still can't find a reason that they would want to enter the competition. I mean, Rose has always been the smart one of the family - I have heard the enough times from my parents - so I would think that she would be smart enough to see that they downsides - like _death_ \- outweigh the upsides. Albus, after hearing his father's tales from when he was in the competition, I would doubt that that he would want to join the competition as well..."

"Well, I was just curious. I am just trying to figure out everyone that entered - I'm making bets with Joshua on who is going to make it in the competition - and I knew that if it was one of your family members then that would be the person to get picked for that house."

"Been spending a lot of time with Joshua, have we?" Hugo wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Nicole hit him with her Divination textbook after a short time considering whether she would hit him with the crystal ball instead. She decided on the textbook in the end, since Trelawnry would probably take the broken crystal ball as a sign that Nicole would break all her bones in body soon.

"Oi! What was that for?" Hugo said, pretending to look all innocent as he rubbed his throbbing arm.

"Well of course Joshua and I are spending a lot of time together! We are the Hufflepuff prefects for God's sake! God, Hugo, don't try to make it sound all dirty - Joshua and I are just friends!" She hit him again.

"Can't blame a bloke for-" She hit him before she finished his sentence, and he shouted out "Ow! Goddamn woman, that book does more damage to me than your wand!"

Nicole looked at him dangerously. "Talk to me about Joshua like that again, and we might just test that theory."

Hugo promptly shut up.

* * *

"Obviously it is going to be Marcus Rapplean for Ravenclaw!"

"No, it is going to be - Wait a second, look there, Evelin Morris is entering for Ravenclaw now - oh my money is _so_ on her."

Hugo sighed and tried to block out Nicole and Joshua's arguments on who was going to be chosen by the goblet tomorrow night at dinner. "It's quite annoying, isn't it?" Henry said beside him, "to have them flirting with one another and not even realize it?"

 _If Nicole had been in hearing range she would have killed him on the spot._ Hugo snorted. "Completely."

"Oh come on, you can't be serious! You can't actually think that _Lorcan Scamander_ will be chosen for Ravenclaw over _Evelin Morris,"_ Nicole's shrill voice rang out in complete disbelievement.

"And I can't believe that you think that Katelyn Frew will be picked over Halee Finnigan for Gryffindor!"

"Have you even talked to Finnigan before? She wouldn't last 2 minutes out in that game! She would giggle uncontrollably, flirt with the boys, and then **boom** she's dead."

"I can see that her death would really bother you." Joshua smirked after his sarcastic words.

Nicole rolled her eyes and then focused her eyes back on to the goblet of fire. A girl from Slytherin walked up next. She had light green eyes that looked almost yellow. She had sleek, pin straight black hair that looked like wires growing from her head. There were several piercings on her face: on her eyebrow, on her eyebrow, on her hooked nose, and on her lips that seemed to be permanetly stuck in a sickly sweet smile. Her clothes seemed to be 5 sizes too small for her body - yet all the boys surrounding her seemed not to argue with that.

"Hey Hugo," Nicole said, whipping her head around to face him, "isn't that Jennifer Auld? You know, the girl that Sarah was so convinced was going to die in Divination today?"

Hugo snorted. "Yeah, I think that it is."

"What happened in Divination today?" Henry asked, and Joshua agreed wanting to hear this for himself too.

"Well, Sarah Auld practically went into hysterics when she 'predicted' that her sister was going to die," Hugo explained.

"Yeah, she was convinced that she was an actual Seer and that her sister, Jennifer Auld over there, was going to die because someone was going to hit her with the killing curse-"

Rose cut Nicole off as she took the empty spot on Hugo's right. "Yeah, probably one shot by me. I mean, just look at her! Her boobs are practically spilling out of her shirt and she is strutting, not walking but _strutting,_ over to the Goblet as though she thinks that she actually has a chance!"

"Woah, what has she done to you that makes you hate her so much?" Hugo implored - usually his sister didn't harbour a hate for someone that strongly.

Hugo soon got his answer when he saw Jennifer, after putting her name into the goblet when she knew that everyone was watching her, practically latch herself onto Scorpius' arm. She was probably trying her best to impress him, but his facial expression only showed complete disgust.

Rose didn't seemed to notice Scorpius' reaction though, as she was fuming and unknowingly making everyone around her scared for their well-being. Well, everyone except for Nicole it seemed, as she snorted and said, "If I didn't know better, I would say that you _like_ him, Rose."

Rose turned to face her, eyes blazing. "I do _not_ fancy Scorpius Malfoy! I don't even like the guy! I only hang out with him because he is friends with Albus, and Scorpius tags along with us when we do something together. The only time I ever hang out with him alone is during our Head's dutys that we have to share. Besides, we are fighting half the time anyway."

"More like flirting instead of fighting if you asked me," Albus said, coming over to join the group as well as they watched another Gryffindor put their name in the Goblet.

"Albus! Not you too! Gosh, why does everyone keep insisting that I fancy him!"

"You fancy someone Weasley? Oh please tell me who the _un_ lucky guy is," Scorpius teased, walking over to join his best friends, Albus and Rose.

"Stay out of this, Malfoy!" Rose spat, frustrated that whom they were talking about had just arrived in front of her.

Rose and Malfoy began to insult each other back and forth, while Nicole and Joshua restarted their argument about whom would be chosen in the Quawizard Tournament. Albus and Henry were both laughing at the clueless soon-to-be couples.

Hugo sighed. "I will see you guys later," he told Henry and Albus as he walked away from the Goblet of fire that everyone was crowded around and headed towards Hagrid's Hut since he hadn't been there inawhile now.

He knocked on Hagrid's door, only to be greeted by Hagrid along with Teddy Lupin and Charlie Weasley. "Am I interrupting something?" Hugo asked, afriad that he had interrupted some teacher meeting between the 3 professors - the Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration teacher - that was taking place at Hagrid's Hut.

"Not at all!" Teddy Lupin said cheerifully as Hagrid opened up the door for Hugo to join them inside.

"So what brings you here? I would think that everyone would either be doing homework or watching the Goblet of Fire 24/7 to see who was dumb enough to enter their name into the competition," Charlie elaborated.

"Well I was watching the Goblet, but I got annoyed by everyone arguing so I decided to leave and come here - since I haven't visited that often because of OWLS," Hugo explained while he petted Hagrid's big black dog named Padfoot.

"Arguing over who is going to be chosen from each house to be in the competition I'm guessing?"

"Exactly - well, except for Rose and Scorpius who were arguing over who knows what now - and it was just so annoying that I had to get away for a little bit."

"Truly," Hagrid interrupted, "I'm surprised that they are gonna have another Triwizard - I mean Quawizard, I keep screwing up the names - Tournament after what happened last time."

"Yeah, but what happened last time isn't going to happen this time. Voldemort isn't trying to come to life again, and Lily or I are not going to be called out even though we never entered our names and are underaged," Hugo stated.

All 3 of them exchanged a look that Hugo could not identify, but a look nonetheless, before Teddy answered "eh, you never know."

Hugo raised his eyebrow, but before he got the chance to say anything more, Charlie looked out the window to see Henry and Albus heading over. "I think your friends are trying to find you, better go and and meet up with them." Charlie practically pushed him out the door, and shut it behind him.

Once Hugo had met up with Albus and Henry - who had finally become annoyed with the arguing and left themselves - Charlie, Teddy, and Hagrid all exchanged that same look again.

"So are we going to-" Charlie began.

"I think we should." Teddy answered.

"I don't think that its a good idea though. What if-" Hagrid began.

"It would help him. I am going to whether you are on my side or not," Teddy said strongly.

Charlie and Hagrid looked at each other: "fine."


	3. Chapter 3

Hugo took his place at the Hufflepuff table with Henry on his right and Nicole and Joshua across from him. Nicole and Joshua were both making last minute bets with one another - each would win one galleon for each one they got right - since the names were going to called in only a matter of minutes now.

"I can't wait to see who is going to be called!" Henry exclaimed, as he shoved a turkey leg in his mouth afterwards.

"I know," Hugo said as he followed Henry's lead and grabbed a turkey leg of his own, "it's really exciting! I hope the Hufflepuff representative wins for our house!"

"Okay, so my money is on Juztin Tazioli, Evelin Morris, Erika Casper, and Samantha Humann," Nicole final decided with Joshua, writing it down on a piece of parchment to make it offical.

Joshua snatched the parchment from her once she was done writing her guesses, and started writing down his own. "And I bet on Halee Finnigan, Morgan Thakker, Hannah Nootbaar, and Drew DuVall."

They both shook hands and then turned to towards the teachers table, waiting anxiously for them to get up and announce the winners.

"You guys might as well eat, it doesn't look like the professors are really _rushing_ to announce the champions," Henry said through a mouthful of food.

"Attention students!" Headmistress McGonnagal called out as she stood next to the goblet of fire.

"Ok, so maybe I'm wrong..." Henry said before directing his attention to the front of the hall.

"The time has come to announce the winners of the Quawizard Cup!" Cheers echoed throughout the hall before McGonnagal proceded with her speech. "As you already know, one champion that is of age will be selected from each of the houses to compete in this dangerous competition. If you are so chosen to compete, there is no backing out. Once your name has been called, you are binded to a magical contract that will not let you back out of the competition. Now let us find out the first Quawizards champions of 2023!"

She tapped the lid of the casket 3 times and it slowly opened up, showing the blue flames of the fire to everyone. The flames quickly turned red and started to whip around, shooting a piece of paper into the air. Headmistress McGonnagal raised her hand into the air and caught it. "And the Gryffindor champion is..." Nicole and Joshua both were cheering for their bets to win. "Juztin Tazioli!"

"Dammit," Joshua said as he handed a smug looking Nicole a galleon.

"Told you not to bet on Halee," Nicole teased him.

Joshua frowned. "The betting is not over just yet."

Juztin Tazioli walked up to the McGonnagal looking at proud as ever, and stood next to her. The Goblet spit out another piece of paper and McGonnagal caught it just as fluently as before. "The Ravenclaw champion is Morgan Thakker!"

"Dammit," Nicole said as she handed Joshua the galleon that she had just claimed from him.

Morgan claimed her paper and stood next to Juztin with the same confidence that he had. The Goblet began to flame up again, and spit out another piece of paper burnt around the edges. "The Slytherin champion Jennifer Auld!"

Nicole and Joshua just looked at each other blankly, since neither bet on her.

"Really? _Her?_ " Nicole said in frustration, "I really thought that Samantha would do a better job than she would."

"And I thought that Drew DuVall would do even better than Samantha," Joshua said with a smirk on his face as Nicole hit him playfully. "But seriously, I doubt that she will get far-"

"Yeah! Go Jenny!" Sarah Auld nearly screamed as her sister walked up - no, _strutted_ actually - up to the front of hall to join the other chamions.

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Whatever. At least now we get to finally hear who the Hufflepuff champion is."

"Who is going to be Hannah Nootbaar," Joshua teased.

"Prepare to eat those words when Erika gets called up," Nicole said with a smirk.

"And the Hufflepuff champion is..." McGonnagal began to call out before she had even grabbed the paper yet, since that was the only house left. She clutched the last piece of paper, and opened her mouth to call out the name, but then closed it just as quickly as furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the piece of paper.

"What do think the problem is?" Hugo asked his friends.

Henry shrugged. "I don't know. She's getting pretty old now, maybe she is losing her sight or something."

"Old? Please, she doesn't look a day over 30," Joshua joked. They all laughed and then turned to look back at McGonnagal, who looked confused and frustrated.

"Who is the Hufflepuff champion!" Erika Casper yelled out to McGonnagal, probably anxious to hear if it were her or not.

McGonnagal looked up startled for a moment, as if she forget that we were all here, before she composed herself and read the name on the piece of parchment: " **Hugo Weasley**."

The hall was silent. No one dared to clap. Everyone's eyes went to Hugo, some in shock and some in jealousy. It took Hugo a few moments to realize that it had been his name called, and nearly fell out of his seat when it finally hit him. He looked to his friends: Nicole's was glaring at him as if to say 'hyprocrite'; Henry was looking at him with wide eyes and an open mouth in complete shock. Hugo looked over to his cousin Albus at the Slytherin table, who was a mirror image of Henry's face; he looked over to Rose, who was shaking her head back and forth, trying to deny any possibly that her _little_ brother had found a way to enter the competition.

 _How_ did _he get into the competition?_ Everyone was wondering this - well, except for Hugo, who was trying to figure out a way that he could hide from all the eyes staring at him, and escape so he wouldn't have to join the competition. _He's underage! How could_ he _trick the Goblet?_

"Hugo Weasley," Headmistress McGonnagal repeated, searching for him in the crowd. Hugo only shrunk more in his seat.

"You realize that you are going to have to go up there eventually," Henry whispered to him.

"Yeah, Hugo, _go_ already," Nicole hissed through clenched teeth.

Hugo found his footing on the ground, and was surprised that he didn't just fall down when he stood up - his legs felt like jelly. He walked forward while keeping his head down, since he didn't want to see everyone's eyes on him.

"He's a cheat! He's not 17! He's a cheat!" A student spoke up eventually, causing an uproar from the other students:

"He tricked the Goblet!"

"He shouldn't compete! Don't let him compete!"

"He is obviously not 17! He is only a mere fifth year!"

"He'a a cheat! He's a cheat!"

"His damn name is the only reason he got in! How the hell is that far for the rest of us?"

Hugo plucked the name piece of parchment from McGonnagal hands and read it. _Hugo Weasley _ was written on it, and it even looked like his handwriting. _How...?_

Headmistress ushered the champions away from the mass of angry students and into her office. "Who are the champions, Minerva?" The portrait on the wall, Albus Dumbledore asked. McGonnagal looked at him alarmed, and then looked at Hugo.

"Of course, it still is someone related to the Potter family," the portrait of Severus Snape grumbled.

"No, I don't think you understand Severus," McGonnagal informed the portrait, "he is _underage."_ McGonnagal turned around and looked at Hugo straight in the eye, trying to be as calm as possible as she asked, "Hugo, did you put your name in the Goblet?"

"No."

"Did you get a professor to do it for you?"

"Well of course he must be lying to you," Jennifer Auld interrupted, looking at Hugo in distaste. "There is no way he could have enough power to trick the Goblet into letting him into the competition."

"Not this again," Snape grumbled, looking at Albus.

"I don't believe that Hugo is lying," Albus spoke up, speaking more to Jennifer than to anyone else.

"Then how else could he have gotton his name into the Goblet?" Morgan Thakker pointed out.

All 3 headmasters, 2 of which were portraits, looked at each other. "I don't know." Then everyone in the room turned to look at Hugo.

"I didn't put my name into the Goblet! I don't want to compete! More importantly, I don't want to _die!_ There has got to be some way that I don't need to compete."

McGonnagal sighed. "You heard me before Hugo, once your name is called you are binded to a magical contract. You have no choice, you have to compete."

* * *

"How did you do it?" Practically everyone shouted this at him as he walked into the Hufflepuff common room. He walked right past them all, not saying a word, and went through the tunnel to his dormitory.

In his dormitory, sitting on his bed, Nicole and Henry were waiting for him. Henry looking more sincere than Nicole was.

"Hugo, what happened back there? Did you really put your name into the cup?" Henry asked as he walked up to Hugo slowly, as if he were afriad that Hugo would run off if he walked towards him too quickly.

"I didn't put my name into the goblet! Why won't anyone just believe me?" Hugo cried out exasperated as he punched the wall. Punching the wall turned out to be a mistake though, and Hugo clutched his throbbing hand and sat down on his bed next to Nicole.

"No one believes you because _you must have put your name into the Goblet."_ Nicole said sourly.

"But I didn't! You heard me the other night - I didn't want to be in the competition!"

"Please, you probably just said that to me so that I wouldn't put my name in the Goblet. You didn't want to have the chance that I would get picked over you."

"Nicole! I didn't trick the Goblet, I wouldn't know how to anyway! You see me in Charms, that is one of my worst classes!"

"You probably just went to someone in your massive family, surely at least one of them would know what to do."

"Nicole! Why the bloody hell won't you believe me?"

"Because you are a bloody _hyprocrite!_ You are a fucking hyprocrite, Hugo Weasley! You told me that you didn't want to be in the competition, that you didn't want the glory, and then you go ahead and enter into the competition! You _lied_ right to my face! What happened to Hufflepuff honesty? 'Cause apparently you are just a liar! What else have you lied to me about? Probably a lot of things. I swear, you were just put into this house because you fit in no where else! You didn't have the qualities of any house, and are the disappointment of your family! That's why you put your name in the Goblet, so you wouldn't be a disappointment anymore when you win!" Nicole hopped off of the bed and stomped towards the door.

"Nicole! Nicole, wait!I'm not lying to you Nicole!" Hugo caught her wrist once she was halfway through the door. Her eyes lined with tears - this was the first time Hugo had ever seen her about to cry.

"Yes you are! Stop denying it! It only makes you look like a fool!" She tried to get out of his grip, but he only held on tighter.

"What about Hufflepuff loyalty, Nicole? I need you more now than ever. I need you to believe me when I say that I didn't put my name into the Goblet. I need you to be my loyal friend again! I will need your help more than ever now since I am _forced_ to be in the most deadly competition there is, and one that I didn't even enter! Nicole, I need you to believe that I am not lying, and to continue being my friend."

Nicole ripped her wrist from his grip. "How do I know that our friendship isn't a lie either?" She slammed the door behind her, and ran from the dormitory; she ran from the common room and out the door - heading to the kitchens to meet Blinky for comfort.

"I believe you, mate. I know that you wouldn't put your name in the Goblet," Henry told Hugo, trying to ease the tension in the room.

It didn't work much. The tension was still so thick that you could cut it with a knife. "Good to know that at least _one_ person believes me."

"Don't worry Hugo," Henry said while putting his hand on Hugo's shoulder, "she will come around."

"I have never seen her that _upset_ before..."

"I know what you mean. I have seen her _mad_ before, but that... she was furious..."

"Did you see her eyes? It looked like she was going to cry."

"Yeah, she must be pretty upset right now then... Good thing she didn't have her wand with her when she came in here, she probably would have hexed your balls off."

"Do you think that I should track her down, you know, try to explain to her that I didn't put my name into the Goblet again..."

"I wouldn't, mate. She was so mad that if she sees you again, she will probably strangle you on the spot. Besides, I doubt explaining it to her 5 minutes later than when you did before will make that much of a difference-"

Hugo didn't hear what Henry said after that though, because he was already out the door and in search of Nicole.

* * *

Nicole was currently in the kitchens with the house elves, chugging down her sorrows in firewhiskey. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheeks were shiny with tears. Her hair was messed up from her pulling on it in frustration. Her hands were clutching the bottle of firewhiskey as if it were the only thing keeping her living.

Though, this wasn't a new sight for the house elves to see. It had almost become a tradition that everytime "kind Miss. Fosnot" came into their domain while tears streaked down her face, that they would give her firewhiskey and let Blinky be the one that tried to cheer her up. Blinky was the only house elf that was able to do so.

Nicole finished the bottle and tossed it aside. At least 3 house elves dove to clean it up so that they could be a help somehow, but Nicole couldn't be sure of the number. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes again, and it was blurring her vision just enough so that the house elves in front of her could barely be made out from one another.

 _How could I have been so stupid as to think that he was trustworthy? How could I have not seen that our friendship was a lie this entire time? How could I have been stupid enough to fall in_ love _with him? I am just an idoit, and Hugo Weasley is just a complete asshole._

"Nicole?" A voice interrupted Nicole's previous, depressing thoughts. Not just any voice either, it was _his_ voice.

"Go away, Hugo, before I curse your balls off," Nicole said emotionlessly.

Hugo snorted. "Henry figured that would be your reaction."

"He probably knows that because he is better friend than you are."

Hugo sighed and sat on the kitchen floor next to Nicole. "Nicole, I-"

"Don't even bother, Hugo," Nicole interrupted him, "nothing you can say could possibly change my mind. So just _get the hell out_ while your balls are still attached."

Hugo didn't leave though, but he didn't speak either. He didn't know what he could possibly say to Nicole now without her absolutely killing him on the spot. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, _anything,_ Blinky came over to Nicole's other side.

"Would Miss. Fosnot like Blinky to get a tissue box?"

"Yes, in my favorite color please," Nicole mumbled, looking at the ground, pretending that Hugo was not here and was not watching her cry.

Hugo was about to give in, accept defeat, and just leave Nicole in peace here. But then, a sudden thought came to him. "How does that elf know what your favorite color is?"

"Just go-"

"I don't even know what your favorite color is! How come that freakin' elf knows what your favorite color is?"

"That 'freakin' elf' is named _Blinky!"_ Nicole said angrily as she lifted her head up and looking at Hugo with puffy, cold eyes, "and I told you to LEAVE."

Hugo disregarded her completely and focused on Blinky, who was walking towards Nicole with a tissue box in hand - a _purple_ tissue box.

"Blinky?" Hugo asked as politely as he could. "How do that Nicole's favorite color is purple?"

"Oh Miss. Fosnot told Blinky while at home!" Blinky told Hugo excitedly.

"At home? Meaning that you have been to her home before?"

"Blinky belongs to Fosnot family, but Blinky's masters are kind and only make her work there during the summer and here during the school year to keep an eye on Miss. Fosnot," Blinky told Hugo, not noticing that Nicole was clearly shaking her head for Blinky to remain silent.

Hugo turned to Nicole. "But you told us that you were a muggleborn. How did your muggle parents get a house elf - how is that even possible?"

Nicole remained silent.

"Nicole?" Hugo tried.

Nicole remained silent.

"You lied, didn't you? Here you are, bothering me for lying, when you have blatantly been lying to me ever since I met you!"

"I admit that I might have overreacted to you being chosen for the competition," Nicole said calmly and quietly.

"Why have you been lying though? Why would you lie about being a muggleborn?"

"Technically I didn't lie. I was born from a muggle - my mother being a muggle - and I was brought up like a muggle. My blood status just doesn't match up with what I have been saying..."

"Wasn't your father around? If you mother was a muggle, then your father must be the wizard in the family, so why didn't he tell you anything?"

"Oh, he was around alright. He just never told me he was a wizard. He never even told my mom that he was a wizard!" Nicole began to cry all over again, but this Hugo held her. For the first time in her life, someone was holding her while she was crying.

"What happened?" Hugo asked, trying not to sound persistant or annoying.

"My father is a squib. He figured if he married a muggle that his children wouldn't be magical. That was true for my older brother, but then I got my letter and my father was forced to tell everyone that he was a squib and explain magic to them... They didn't take it well. They called me a 'freak' and my father a 'diseased freak' and kicked us out the door. I haven't seen them in 4 years now."

"I didn't even know that you had a brother," said Hugo, suddenly feeling like a terrible friend.

"Not that he would ever admit it," Nicole sighed, but her body was still shaking from her crying, "If my father hadn't lied to them about being a muggle this entire time, I would still have a brother and a mother that loves me. But no, he just had to go and lie! Now all I have is a jobless father who is trying to drink away all his problems with firewhiskey, who relies on Blinky to do all the work in the house, and and is almost unable to support us anymore - we are running out of money. And now, goddamn it, look at me! I am no better than him! Drinking away my problems with firewhiskey, and relying on Blinky to take care of me! I am just as pathetic as him."

"Hey, hey there, listen to me, you _are_ better than him. You are independent, and honest, and... well, perfect."

 _It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything._ "You really think that? Aww, well that is sweet of you," Nicole said looking up at him again, not caring how stupid she must look right now, "And I'm sorry for yelling at you so much, and getting so angry... I was just so angry that someone had lied to me _again_ and... I don't know... but I doubt that you put your name in the Goblet. After I ran away from your dorm, I realized how stupid that would be, and that you would never do it."

"I don't blame you for it, Nicole. You had every right to believe that I was a hypocrite at that time - you didn't know that I didn't put my name into the goblet."

"Still... I'm really sorry Hugo."

"It's okay," Hugo said as he wiped away the last of her tears, "now let's get back to common room, it's getting pretty late."

Hugo helped her onto her feet, while she preformed a few spells on herself so she wouldn't look so disheveled. Hugo wrapped an arm around her and led her back to the Hufflepuff common room in the basement.

"Hugo," Nicole said hesitantly, "thanks for coming to look for me, even after I yelled at you. It means a lot to me."

Hugo smiled. "It's what friends are for."

Nicole smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. _Yeah... friends is all we are... all we are ever going to be._

"And Nicole?" Nicole looked at Hugo hopefully, "my favorite color is purple too."

Nicole cracked a smile.


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't know who would put your name in."

Hugo looked at the list of 7th years again before putting it down and groaning in frustration. "Well thanks for your help anyway, sis."

Rose nodded and looked at her brother with sad eyes. _He is far too young to be in a competition like this._ "Whomever did put your name into this Goblet is not a friend of yours though. There is no good reason for anyone to enter a 15 year old boy into this competition besides wanting to see them die. You better be extra careful in this competition. I will help you with whatever you need, though," Rose added trying to comfort her little brother.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, now Hugo, lets talk about how we are going to get you to win," Albus said as he in the door with Scorpius following right behind.

"You guys were supposed to be here an hour ago to help figure out what 7th year would put Hugo's name into the Goblet! Where were you?" Rose rang out, eyes narrowed accusingly.

"Hey Rose, calm down. They probably were just busy making out with one another, and who are we to interrupt young love?" Hugo joked. But Rose just cracked a small smile at a joke that she would usually have been laughing hysterically at, and focused intently on the list of 7th years again as if she hadn't just read through every name on that list before.

Scorpius and Albus looked at each other horrified for a moment, and moved a good couple feet away from each other. "Hugo, that is so not funny," Albus said with a disgusted look etched upon his face, but it slowly turned into a smirk, "I would never try to steal Scorpius from-" Rose and Scorpius both looked at Albus worriedly, "his lovely crush-" Scorpius practically tackled Albus before he could end his sentence.

"You better not finish that," Scorpius growled.

Albus only laughed. He looked to Rose to see that she was glaring at him as well. Albus only laughed more because of this.

"Malfoy, you better get off of him soon, before my brother makes another joke about the 2 of you. Then again, who _am_ I to be interupting young lover such as this?" Rose said. Hugo smirked.

Scorpius stood up faster than what seemed to be humanly possible. "Sorry to disappoint, but I don't swing that way, so I will not be dating your cousin anytime soon."

 _Yeah, because Rose is what he is really thinking about dating,_ Albus rolled his eyes at the thought, and how oblivious the both of them were.

"Yeah, well anyway," Rose interrupted the awkward silence, "you guys can go back to whatever you were doing before, because Hugo and I have gone through this entire list and can't find a single person that would want to do this Hugo."

"Weasley, we are already here, so we might as well go through the list again or teach Hugo some helpful spells so that he won't die in this competition," Scorpius said seriously.

Rose tensed up. "Don't even mention that. He will not die!"

Scorpius sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "You are right, Hugo won't die, but only if we help him."

"We? So you'll help my brother too?"

"Of course I will."

It seemed that they both had forgotton that Hugo and Albus were both there. _Clueless dumbasses,_ Albus thought as he stared at the soon to be couple. He decided that he would be mean to the both of them today, and shouted "Hey!" followed by a whistle. Both Scorpius and Rose jumped away from each other, and then turned to face Albus with identical angry expressions. "Are we just going to talk about helping Hugo, or are you two lovebirds just going to continue-"

"We are NOT lovebirds!" They both argued. A light pink tinge had creeped upon Scorpius' cheeks, and the tips of Rose's ear were burning bright red.

"Then lets get to helping Hugo over here!"

* * *

"So did you figure out some possible 7th years that could've put your name into the Goblet?" Henry asked Hugo.

Hugo plopped onto the couch. He had been spent the entire day in the Room of Requirement with Albus, Rose, and Scorpius helping to train him. Well, if you considered Rose and Scorpius going between fighting and flirting and Albus staring at them as if to say _'just kiss already'_ , as training.

"No clue. I have no idea whatsoever, and it bugging the hell out of me that I can't figure it out," Hugo said sourly.

"So the _entire day_ you have been going through the list of 7th years _over and over again_ with Rose, Albus, and Scorpius? I figured that you guys must have found who it was that did it, and then went off to fight him. A few minutes ago Nicole went to check the hospital wing to see if the fight went badly and you guys got knocked out or something."

 _Well that explains why she wasn't here._ "Nah, they just decided that it was their duty to train me, so they spent the entire day teaching me spells that they have been learning in their classes in hope that I will actually have a chance."

"Henry I checked the hospital wing," Nicole said as she walked in, "and Hugo wasn't ther- Oh hey Hugo, where have you been all day?"

"Being trained," Hugo said with sigh as he attemtped to move his sore muscles, "I don't think that I will ever get up from this spot."

"That bad, huh? Well I am sure that you will feel better tomorrow. By the way," Nicole added as an afterthought as she sat next to him on the couch, "isn't tomorrow your interview for the Daily Prophet?"

"I don't know, what day is tomorrow?"

"Sunday, the 24th."

"Then yeah, the interview is tomorrow." A small smile crawled onto Hugo's face.

Nicole shoved him playfully. "See? Better already," she said smugly.

Hugo's stomach growled loudly enough that it could have been mistaken for a small lion. "And now I am less better," he said with a frown, "I missed dinner."

"Well we could always just go down to kitchens. Do you think that you manage that Hugo?" Henry offered, not noticing how Nicole tensed up at the mention of the kitchens as she remembered last time that she was down there. She immediatly became interested in the badger sown onto the pillow that she was resting on.

Hugo's stomach growled again, so loudly that a few other people in the common room jumped in their seats from the sound. "I don't think that my stomach will let me refuse that offer."

Hugo got up slowly and carefully and followed Henry to the Hufflepuff common room door. "You coming Nicole?" Henry asked.

"No," she answered quickly, not wanting to make it awkward between herself and Hugo if she went down there again with him... and Henry of course. "I think I will just stay here and work on that Astronomy essay."

Henry laughed slightly. "Fine, but we all know that you are going to give up in 10 minutes and then ask to copy mine last minute."

"See? We are such a great team together! We have it all worked out with one another!" Nicole said as she pulled out some parchment and a quill, "You guys go ahead though, I'll join you when I'm done."

Henry and Hugo walked out, and Nicole stared at the parchment with no intent on actually writing on it. She sighed, _Henry was right. I never do my homework - but when he comes back he will expect me to have at least some homework done as my reason for not joining them._ Nicole sighed and looked at the parchment again. _I have to do it._ Astronomy was never her best subject, though. In fact, she was barely passing as of right now - even with Henry and Joshua's help. She prefered Defense Against the Dark Arts, or Potions, or Care of Magical Creatures, or even Herbology.

"Are trying to shoot lazers from your eyes?" Joshua asked amused as he sat next to Nicole on the couch, "because I don't think glaring at that paper will make it go up in flames anytime soon."

"I wish it would!" Nicole exclaimed exasperated. "Then I would have an excuse for not doing this shitty homework!"

"What class is it for?"

"Astronomy - which you know that I hate."

Joshua picked up her quill off the table and dipped it in the ink. "Don't freak out, you have me here to help you."

* * *

"Okay, I don't think that I could possibly eat anymore." Henry held his stomach as if he thought it may explode.

Hugo laid on his head on the table as if he was about to fall asleep. "I agree," he mumbled.

"Let's get back to our dorm then before we both end up dying here from overeating." Both Henry and Hugo stood up and made their way to the door.

"Can Blinky get anything else for Mr. Weasley or Mr. Swanson?" Blinky rushed up to them before they could raech the door.

"No that will be it for now, Blinky," Henry said kindly as he placed his hand over the door knob and escaped through the door.

Hugo kneeled down so that he was eye level with Blinky. "Can you do me a favor, Blinky?" he whispered.

"Of course! Blinky will do anything Blinky can!"

"If you see Nicole come in here crying again, come and get me."

"Hugo you coming?" Henry interrupted, peeking his head through the door.

"Yeah." Hugo walked over to his friend and left the kitchens with him.

"Miss. Fosnot is lucky to have a friend like Mr. Weasley," Blinky mused to herself after the boys had left, "Mr. Weasley will soon realize that it is not just friendship that will keep them together."

* * *

"You guys look like you are about to explode," Joshua laughed as he saw Henry and Hugo wobble in to the common room.

"Feel like it too," Henry muttered as he fell onto the couch gripping his stomach for dear life.

Nicole snorted. "Looking pretty sexy there," she said sarcastically.

Henry's light brown helmet hair was tangled and splayed behind his head. His grey eyes were clearly showing his annoyance at Nicole's previous joke, and he just groaned angrily - at both Nicole and the pain.

"That and your witty comebacks will have all the girls just falling all over you," Joshua added with a smirk.

"Shut up," Henry growled, "at least I have a date to the Yule Ball."

"Already?" Nicole asked shocked, "but that isn't until Christmas!"

"Who is it?" Hugo pryed.

Henry smirked. "Elle Campbell."

"My dorm mate?" Nicole asked, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Everytime Elle would join their conversation, Henry would always try desperately to get her attention focused more on him than on any of the others. And Elle wasn't unattractive either. She was thin, but muscular; her hair was dirty blonde and usually up in a bun or in a pony tail; she had big, ocean blue eyes. Elle was smart too, almost better than Henry was doing in school, _almost._

"Great, now you are making me feel like a loser for not having a date yet," Hugo said sourly, but with a smile still etched upon his face.

"Better get a move on then before all the good ones are gone," Henry said with a smirk.

"Maybe I should ask Charlotte Willow..." he said thoughtfully.

Nicole repressed the pained sigh to escape her lips as she felt her heart pang in her chest. "Charlotter, really?" she asked, trying not to sound jealous or angry or sad.

Hugo thought about for a few seconds. "Yeah, I think that I will ask her. She is smart, funny, nice, and she has the cutest nose-"

"Have you guys ever actually had a conversation before?" Nicole was having trouble not letting her emotions show, and her words had a subtle amount of venom in them.

"Um..." Hugo had to think for a little bit before he came to the realization that they really hadn't before. "Well she asked to borrow some parchment from me in the library the other day..."

Nicole gave him a pointed look. "Thats not a conversation. That is a 4 second question that _she_ asked."

"Well then I guess we have never really had an actually conversation before..." Hugo mumbled while Henry and Nicole laughed at him.

"Well who are _you_ going with?" Hugo asked Nicole, obviously ticked off at how right she had turned out to be.

Nicole shrugged. "I don't know, whomever has the guts to ask me I suppose?" she sighed, "I will probably just go alone... but this is all _months_ away. Why should we even be thinking about this now?" Now that the attention had been turned to herself, she desperately wanted to change the topic. "So, Hugo, have you thought about what you are going to say during your interview tomorrow."

Everyone noticed the sudden change of topic, but Hugo went along with it. "I don't know, that depends on the questions they ask I suppose..."

"Hugo, you have to be careful of what you going to say; a writer's job is to manipulate your words as best they can. You of all people should already know that."

"Why should I know that of all people?" Hugo's brow furrowed in confusion.

"With all the reporters following you around all the time, I would think you would have realized that they are not just looking for a camera shot of a happy family - they are looking for a photo that will incriminate or embarass you. These people's intentions throughout this interview will not be good-hearted."

Hugo just rolled his eyes at the worry-wart he had for a friend. "Relax, Nicole, I'm sure that it will all be fine."

Nicole grumbled under her breath angrily, since she knew arguing would end up being pointless. He had made up his mind, there was no changing that.

"Whatever. But after the interview meet me at the library so that we can look up some spells for you to learn, 'kay?"

Hugo groaned. "I was already trained all day today, and tomorrow you want to _teach me more?_ I don't even know what the first task is going to be! Nobody does!"

"Exactly, so it's best if you are prepared for anything," she said with a cheery smile that was meant just to annoy Hugo further.

"I swear, you guys are going to kill me before I even step foot in the competition."

"I can see that you really appreciate all we are doing to save your ass here." Nicole crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "But I probably should be getting to my dorm so that I can ask Elle when she became desperate enough to go out with Henry over here, and then go to bed. See you guys in the morning, and see you in the library, Hugo." Nicole walked through the tunnel to her dorm with a smirk on her face, while Henry mumbled a barely audible "shut up" in his defense.

"I should probably be heading to bed too, considering that I _do_ have an interview tomorrow. See ya-" Hugo's sentence was interrupted as a yawn escaped his mouth, "see you guys tomorrow. Wow, I must be more tired than I thought... Henry, are you coming?"

Henry's response was a snore - he was already fast asleep on the couch.

"Ok... Joshua, you coming?" Hugo tried again.

"Nah. I think I'm going to draw on his face before I go to bed," he answered with a sinister smile as he lifted his wand towards Henry's face.

"I wouldn't try it. Henry is a real light sleeper."

"Dammit." Joshua answered before he put his wand back into his pocket and walked with Hugo towards their dorm.

"I will never understand how the 2 biggest swearers in all of Hufflepuff history became prefects," Hugo mused.


	5. Chapter 5

_Supposedly he's an adequate Wizard's Chess player, but this Weasley has long fooled the magic world into thinking he's some kind of hero. Son of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Hugo has always been able to put on a show for reporters to make them believe that he was just as brave and heroic as his parents, but unnamed sources have told me that the Hufflepuff is nothing like his world-saving parents... Never has an incompetent wizard become so successful by riding the coattails of another. Hugo rarely thinks for himself, which - according to some - serves him best. As long as the Weasley family excels, you can be certain Hugo will be there to lick the scraps like an obedient lapdog... A naive, silly boy, Hugo's intentions may be pure, but he's so easily duped, one wonders how he could survive among such intelligient competitors like Miss. Thakker..._ _Hugo has always lived under the shadow of better family members and more powerful wizards, which is why he's infamous for stepping into the flash of the camera to garner much-desired attention. This year though, Mr. Weasley was so determined to stand in the spotlight that he found a way to enter himself into the Quawizard Tournament - a desperate plea for attention, may I add. But, despite the poor boy's histrionic attempts to be noticed, he remains one of Hogwart's most unremarkable students..._

"So how's the article? I'm guessing that it was well done, considering how you kept badgering me yesturday about how Miss. Roques was kind and unlike what I told you reporters were like." Nicole's voice interrupted Hugo while he was reading the article written about him, and he looked up at her red in the face with angry eyes.

Henry smirked. "Oh, this has got to be good." He reached over the table and snatched the paper from Hugo's hands. Henry held it open so that Nicole could read along with him.

Once she was finished reading, Nicole looked up at Hugo. "So reporters aren't all that bad, huh?"

"Shut up," Hugo mumbled, looking at the Hufflepuff table intensely.

"You told me that the interview went well yesturday though."

"Apparently I was wrong then, wasn't I?" he said sourly.

Nicole sighed. "Well it could be worse I guess..."

"Worse? How could it be worse?" Hugo said, his eyes flashing dangerously, "there is no way that article about me could be any worse!"

Nicole opened her mouth to answer, but Henry interrupted them. "Did you read any of the other interivews in here yet?"

"No, not yet. Why? Are they all just _that_ much better than mine?"

Henry smiled at Hugo's venomous words. "I think you should read the other articles before you start complaining about yours."

Hugo took his Daily Prophet back from Hugo and opened to the next page where Juztin's interview was written:

_This esteemed Gryffindor chaser would seem to be one of the more competitive people in the Quawizard tournament, but his obession for impressing anything in a skirt could prove catastrophic for the Gryffindor representative..._ _For a boy allegedly from the modest Gryffindor House, Juztin is quite the exhibitionist, often showcasing his quidditch toned physique through shirtless strolls along the Hogwarts grounds. Will he be stunning enough to win in the Quawizard Tournament... Though popular among the young ones for his jokes and casual demeanor, one former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher described his antics as 'a calculated ruse to hide a million quaffles worth of insecurities'... Referred to by one unnamed wizard as a complete waste of space... I would be remiss if I didn't add that one Slytherin quidditch player called him vastly overrated... Still, it's hard to imagine this mindless imbecile accomplishing much of anything in life, let alone in the Tournament, where far superior wizards like Morgan Thakker will try and easily accomplish the task to beat him... I must admit, the thought of watching this world-class seeker go whoosing by gives me a delicious feeling I have not felt since my younger years. Of course, despite Tazioli's unparalleled athletic prowess, the hollowness of his head should do him no favors when beat upon by those who outsmart him._

"So do you really think that your article is worse than Juztin's is?" Henry asked with a wide smile, knowing that Hugo was about to agree with him.

"I guess..." Hugo said, "I mean, she basically called him an idoit here while she only hinted at me being an idoit..."

"Now before you go back to saying that your article is worse, read Auld's article. Trust me, it's hilarious!" Hugo sighed and followed his friend's advice, turning the page to reveal Jennifer's article:

_Alphabetically, Miss. Auld has been called first in her class every year at Hogwarts, but don't let that fool you into undeserved reverence. One of the most irrationally confident wizards you'll ever meet, Jennifer substitutes bravado for actual talent. Scorpius Malfoy has long been the object of her affections, and though Mr. Malfoy denies it, there are rumours of a steamy kiss in a broom cupboard at a Prefect meeting... Jennifer's been after Scorpius since the moment they locked eyes on their first train to Hogwarts, though sources inform me that Malfoy was actually looking at a helping of treacle tart instead. Despised by Gryffindors and Slytherins alike, Auld will struggle to form alliances in the Tournament, and she desperately needs someone like Morgan Thakker to help her get through the competition alive... This black-haired vixen gets around, though many maintain her flirtations are just her way of coping with intense jealousy. Sources tell me she has long suspected Rose Weasley of being in a steamy relationship with Scorpius Malfoy, the boy she has always want to flaunt in the Great Hall as her own...She's quite the physical attractor, using a combination of grace, beauty, and - from what I've heard - general vindictiveness to charm her way into what she wants. Don't trust this temptress!_

Hugo stopped reading with a smile inching onto his face. "Okay, you're right, that was pretty funny, but Rose is going to be pissed when she reads this," Hugo widened his eyes in realization, "holy shit! My dad is going to read this! He's going to think that Rose is dating Scorpius now! Oh shit, Rose is going to get killed soon!" All the while he spoke though, he was laughing.

"Good to know you care about your sister's well being," Nicole said as she rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Oh come on Nicole, you have to admit that this is pretty damn funny!" Henry said as he shoved her slightly.

"Come on, find the humor in it!" Hugo added. Tears were now streaming down his face from the laughter and lack of oxygen.

"I AM _NOT_ DATING SCORPIUS MALFOY!" Rose shouted throughout the entire hall, probably just finishing the article for herself.

"I AM _NOT_ IN A 'STEAMY RELATIONSHIP' WITH ROSE WEASLEY!" Scorpius shouted from the other side of the hall.

"WHAT IS THIS RUBBISH SHE WROTE?" Jennifer Auld shouted as she chucked the offending article as far as she could from herself.

Several shouts followed this:

"MY HEAD IS NOT HOLLOW!"

"WHAT SLYTHING QUIDDITCH PLAYER CALLED ME 'VASTLY OVERRATED'?"

"THIS LADY HAS NO IDEA WHAT SHE IS TALKING ABOUT!"

"NOTHING IN THIS ARTICLE IS TRUE!"

"SILENCE!" Headmistress McGonnagal interrupted everyone's yelling, "the next person to shout about how the false the articles written in the Daily Prophet will have a silencing spell preformed on them, rendering them speechless for the next week!"

For a moment, no one dared to move a muscle. People paused inbetween eating, not daring to chew and make some sort of noise. No one dared to move in fear of making some sort of noise. Eventually, people began to talk with one another again, and eat their food once again, but the Great Hall was slightly quieter than usual.

Hugo still didn't speak though, and he opened the Prophet to the last article, about Morgan Thakker:

 _In all my years as a journalist, I have never become closer with anyone than I have Morgan Thakker. We have worked marvelously well together on multiple stories, the two of us sharing many an afternoon chatting: our goal, to find truth... As a reputable journalist, it's my professional responsibility to avoid letting feelings get in the way of a juicy report, but I do so feel for the helpless. Several wizards I spoke to conveyed similar sentiments, as they all know the well-meaning Thakker is destined for a brutal, early end. Oh, Where are my tissues? But, my precious readers, I will not confirm this statement yet, as the Ravenclaw has the brains and the strength for such a competition as this... Underestimated by her her competitors, Morgan has the chance to rise up and take the Quawizard Trophy from them without so much as blink of an eye... While I do not want to encourage my readers to do something as barbaric as gambling, one should think very carefully before deciding to put money on someone other than Miss. Thakker, since none other has the same_ winning _qualities as she does-_

Nicole snatched the paper from Hugo's hands before he could finish reading it. "Hey!" he shouted, trying to reclaim _his_ paper back from Nicole. His efforts ended in no avail, and he gave up on trying to read the rest of Morgan's kind article.

"How come that fucking reporter wrote such a nice article for her!" Hugo whined.

"Morgan's father is assistant to the _Minister of Magic._ Of course Miss. Roques is gonig to try to weasel her way into being liked by the minister, and making Morgan seem like the winner of the competition is the easiest way to do it."

"I guess she is sick of being nice to your family all the time," Henry added.

And for once in Hugo's life, he didn't like the attention the reporter's gave him.

* * *

Headmistress McGonnagal had called a teacher's meeting into her office. Considering that there was about 23 teachers in McGonnagal's office, it was actually quite roomy.

Minerva McGonnagal was pacing around her desk, her brow furrowed in confusion. "The last time this happened, _Voldemort_ was the cause of it. What if this time..."

"You can't possibly be suggesting that Voldemort is the cause of this happening too, are you?" Annika Molnar, the Ancient Studies teacher, interrupted.

"I am just suggesting that someone may be out after Hugo - he is the son of 2/3 the Golden Trio afterall - as revenge for bringing down Voldemort."

"Why would they go after Hugo though? Rose is eligible to be in the competition, so if this 'dark force' you speak of wanted to get revenge on the Golden Trio, picking Rose would have made more sense since it would cause less commotion. And, anyways, wouldn't they want to go after Harry's children - James, Albus, or Lily - instead since Harry _was_ the one to bring down Voldemort?" Teju Belagur, the Muggle Studies teacher, asked.

Minerva sighed. "I... I don't know. I know that it doesn't make any sense, but something seems off here. Hugo has always been such a nice boy - he is a Hufflepuff afterall - so why would anyone want to hurt him? That's why I keep thinking that there must be some sort of scheme going on here that we don't know about."

"So what was the point of this meeting?" Blaise Zabini, the potion's teacher spoke up, "To tell us a theory that _may_ or _may not_ be true. Yeah, that seems like a good reason to call us all down here at midnight," he drawled sarcastically.

"Minerva," Annika said in a much kinder voice than Blaise's had been. "What was the point of this meeting?"

"I just wanted everyone to be aware of my suspicions, and warn everyone that Hogwarts might not be as safe as we think. I want everyone to be on the lookout and report any suspicious behavior that they see. While this could be an innocent misunderstanding... I-I don't know, it could be something else, something darker, something that we might not be able to comprehand yet. For all we know this could be the work of an evil force - even though it is not Voldemort - but is that really much of a relief? Just be careful everyone, and watch after Hugo."


	6. Chapter 6

"Hi Teddy- I mean, Professor Lupin," Hugo said as he stepped into his Defense against the dark arts class. After knowing Teddy for all of his life, it was hard to switch from saying 'Teddy' to _'Professor_ Lupin', even though Teddy had been teaching at Hogwarts for his second year now.

"Take a seat, Mr. Weasley," he said strictly like a professor should, but with a grin on his face nonetheless.

Lily skipped into the room, since this class was shared with the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor 5th years, and walked up to Teddy - completely ignoring the fact that he was a professor in the classroom. "Hey Teddy, so how's the wedding planning going?"

"Miss. Potter!" he squealed in a mock professor voice, "Must I need remind you that we are not friends in the room!" Teddy let out a laugh and returned back to his normal voice, "Nah, I'm just kidding. Oh, the planning is going fine. Well, at least for me - with the all these little details to get sorted out, Vic is beginning to freakout and, since I'm not around to watch after her, I can't calm her done and make sure she doesn't do anything irrational."

Lily smiled. "Oh, you have nothing to worry about. Victoire has always been quite level headed - she wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing!" She let a small laugh and moved her auburn hair out of her piercing blue eyes.

"Yeah, and there's ages before the wedding, so you guys don't have to be so worried about the small details right now. You have until the summer to get it all sorted out, and it's only November now!" Hugo added.

"Okay, okay, now take your seats, class is about to begin," Teddy- no, _Professor Lupin,_ said dismissively.

Lily just smiled and took a seat next to her new boyfriend. Even though it had only been a few days since she had broken up with her last boyfriend, it wasn't very surprising to see that she had already gotton a new one. Lily was always a happy girl - Hugo couldn't seem to recall anytime where she was ever frowning - even though she was independent and flightly, she got along with all of the cousins in her own original way. It makes sense that a lot of guys would be interested in her for her bubbly personality, not to mention her looks aren't exactly actrocious.

Hugo looked over to his friends to see that Nicole and Henry were already seated next to one another, leaving Hugo to find himself a partner. He spotted Joshua sitting by himself at one of the tables and decided to join him. "Hey," he said simply, taking the empty seat.

"Hey," Joshua responded, but he seemed distracted. Hugo followed his line of vision to find out that he was staring at a girl. And not some girl, but _Olivia Buscher._ The girl was popular beyond belief, and her looks did good to make sure that she never lost her popularity. She was a petite asian girl, whose long wazy black hair showed off her small figure wonderfully. Her brown eyes were so dark they seemed nearly black, and she had a small, pinched nose.

"Olivia, huh?" Hugo asked Joshua. Even though his voice had been nonchalant, Joshua's head snapped to look at him as if he had just suggested that they both of them should begin shagging in the middle of the DADA classroom in front of everyone.

"What? No," he snapped, "I dated her last year and that was that. Nothing more," Joshua stated, trying to seem as if Olivia was the most repulsive person on the planet. His eyes decieved him though, as he looked at her fleeting before turning his full attention to Hugo again.

Lucky for Joshua though, Hugo was never one to pick up on lies such as this. He just nodded his head and smiled at Joshua, letting him know that he believed everything he had just said without doubt. Joshua smiled back, pleased that he had been able to convince Hugo so easily. He didn't dare to look over at Olivia again though, in fear that Hugo might notice and they would have to start this conversation all over again.

"Okay," Te- _Professor Lupin_ , began, "today I will be teaching you how to cast a Placement Charm."

A hand shot up. "But sir," Michelle Fiore argued politely, "didn't we learn placement charms _last year?"_ The Gryffindor was trying to be polite, but her sickly sweet smile was failing and it was becoming more and more noticable that she didn't want to relearn that useless spell once again.

"We did, but I believe that we should go over it again. I feel like most of you didn't fully grasp the spell and you want to be prepared for OWLS. You never know what could be on it!" Professor Lupin responded, trying to look optimistic, since he knew that this spell was rubbish compared to what else they could be learning in the class, and that it was _never_ going to appear on the OWLS.

But, he needed to teach it. He needed to. He _had_ to.

"Placement charm, _great,"_ Hugo muttered sarcastically. He was rubbish at performing the spell. _Teddy probably meant me what he was talking about how 'most of you didn't fully grasp the spell'. Please, 'most of you' was practically code for_ Hugo Weasley. _R_ _uddy Placement charm._

 _"_ Don't like the spell?" Joshua said with a smirk. Anyone could tell that Hugo didn't like the spell by the way he was muttering under his breath as Professor Lupin refreshed everyone on how the spell was done.

"How could you tell _?"_ Hugo muttered darkly, glaring at Joshua. It seems that Hugo's death-glare _(if you could call it that,_ Joshua thought vaguely) didn't work at all to shut Joshua up, as Joshua started to laugh. Not a loud laugh, but a laugh audible to Hugo and impossible to be heard by the Professor. _For a prefect he sure knows how to laugh like a evil villian._

"Oh shut up," Hugo muttered, eying Teddy to make sure that he wasn't about to come over and scold Joshua for laughing instead of listening to the lesson. _Teddy wouldn't give us detention though, no, but listening to him lecture us in front of the class really isn't on my to-do list for today._

Joshua stopped laughing but replaced it with a smirk. _He has quite the evil smirk too. He could be a great evil villain, with that laugh and smirk. Actually I think that Nicole has the same exact smirk that he does. But she would never become an evil villian, while she is quite...erm, ambitious... she is far too sweet, and kind, and pretty, and-_

 _Woah, what am I thinking?_ Hugo stopped his thoughts with wide eyes, not even knowing exactly where that came from.

"Here dude, I'll help you with the spell," Joshua said kindly, making Hugo mentally slap himself for momentarily thinking that he could be an evil villian.

"Yeah, that'd be great, but let me warn you: I'm hopeless," Hugo said in a joking tone, but he was sure that his eyes gave away how true that statement really was.

"I doubt that," Joshua said sharply, but then put on a smirk again, "and anyways, can't you tell that I am a miracle worker in my spare time?"

Hugo cracked a smile. "Good, because that's the only way that you could possibly find anyway to help me."

"It's really not that difficult. Just try to do the spell."

Hugo sighed, and muttered the spell. And guess what happened next? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Hugo wondered briefly if maybe he was actually a squib and hadn't noticed until this very moment. He considered just Avada-ing himself on the spot to avoid the embarassment and dishonor it would bring the Weasley family, but then realized if he really were a squib then he wouldn't be able to do that. _It would really suck to be a squib..._

"The only reason the spell isn't working is because your wrist movement is off," Joshua informed him, sounding like a proper teacher, while showing him how to move his wrist instead.

 _How could I ever think that he sounded like an evil villian,_ Hugo thought at the end of the lesson, having produced the spell correctly, like Joshua had been teaching him to do all lesson long, _he could never be evil; he is far too helpful and kind to be an evil villian. Maybe a teacher..._ Hugo smiled slightly, amused that his thoughts had gone from _evil villian_ to _teacher_ in only DADA class period.

* * *

"ROSE WEASLEY," The howler announced to the school, since everyone in the Great Hall had shut up to listen to _little Miss. Perfect_ Rose Weasley get yelled at by a howler. The girl in question was furiously looking for her wand, trying to find it so she could use a spell to shut up her father's voice coming through the stupid letter, or a hiding place if that plan failed.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE DATING A MALFOY! AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE COURTESY TO TELL US, YOUR PARENTS, THAT YOU ARE DATING A BOY, LET ALONE THE FERRET BOY!"

 _Ferret boy, the fuck does that mean?_ Scorpius Malfoy thought from across the hall, as he watched Rose become flustered in amusement. _Where the fuck did ferret boy come from, he barely even knows me! The only time he sees me is when Al has me over, and even then that's very minimal in a situation where his Uncle Ron is around._

"HE IS A MALFOY! MALFOY, THE SLYTHERIN ENEMY! _ENEMY_! I EVEN WARNED YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM HIM! WHAT DID I SAY THE FIRST TIME? DO. NOT. GET. TOO. FRIENDLY. BUT DID YOU LISTE- NO HERMOINE! THIS ARGUMENT IS ONLY BETWEEN ROSE AND I!" the howler suddenly changed to voice of her mother Hermione instead, whose voice was much kinder. "Rose, dear, I am so happy that you found yourself a good guy to- YES RONALD, HE IS A GOOD GUY! IF ALBUS CAN BE FRIENDS WITH HIM THEN ROSE CAN DATE HIM- Don't worry about your father, he'll calm down eventually. And I'm sure that he is happy for you... deep down..." The howler moved a table over to Hugo, who was sinking lower in his seat as the howler came face to face with him instead, "And Hugo, your father and Uncle Harry have been trying to find who put your name into the Goblet but so far there are no leads. Don't worry though, we will find whoever it is. If you need any help though, you can always come to us."

The envelope then burst into flames, making Hugo to relax since the letter wasn't yelling at him for something he had done and forgotton about and leaving Rose with cheeks that were burning bright just like the flames were. A thousand different emotions passed through her face all at once, making it hard to dechiper what exactly she was thinking. In the end, she sighed and picked at her breakfast. "Pass the butter, would you Lily?" she asked quietly, still flushed with embarassment.

Everyone gradually began talking with one another again, realizing that nothing more was going to happen. Hugo started a conversation with Henry, but that didn't stop him from noticing Rose duck out of the Great Hall and Jennifer Auld following her out shortly. _I'll have to ask Rose about that later..._

"Hugo!" Nicole shrieked slightly as she hit him on the arm, "I can't believe that you still don't know what the first task is! The task is only a couple of weeks!"

"I'll be fine," Hugo said nonchalantly, even though he was positively frightened on the inside, "And anyways, it's not like anyone else knows what it is either... I mean, I'm pretty sure none of the other competitors know what it is..."

"Well I'm sorry if that doesn't reassure me."

"Relax Nicole, I'm sure he can handle himself," Henry interrupted, desperately attempting to calm Nicole down even though he knew than his attempts were futile. He was proved right when Nicole glared at him.

"Come on Nicole, we got to get to the Prefects meeting," Joshua said, standing behind her and waiting for her to get up to join him.

Nicole sighed before checking the time on her watch briefly. She then looked up at Hugo again. "You're lucky that I have a prefects meeting to go to so I can't say anything more, but we are going to the library tomorrow to look up some more spells just in case."

Hugo moaned and hit his head against the table. Henry chuckled and said to Nicole, "just go leave with Joshua before Hugo ends up killing himself, and would you two stop giving each other googly eyes!" He accused Nicole and Joshua.

 _Now why did I feel a slight pang when Henry said that?_ Hugo wondered silently.

"We. Are. Not," Nicole growled. Joshua nodded.

_Well that makes me feel a bit better._

"Yeah, yeah, now go already," Henry dismissed, a smirk creeping onto his face.

Nicole and Joshua walked out of the Hall, a few other prefects from different houses heading to the meeting as well. Hugo picked his head off from the table and watched her leave. "Stop staring, would ya? You might start drooling," Henry said, the smirk now very prominent on his face.

"I wasn't," Hugo argued meekly.

Henry gave him a look. A look that clearly said ' _you-are-such-a-liar-and-we-both-know-it'._

"Oh shut up."

Henry chuckled slightly before talking again. "So why were you looking at her anyway?"

"Just...um..." _why was I?_ "Just wanted to see if they were going to start holding hands and proclaim their love for one another." _Lie, lie, lie._

Henry gave him the _'you-are-such-a-liar-and-we-both-know-it'_ look again, but let it go and shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say."


	7. Chapter 7

"Just go up and talk to her. Sitting here and drooling isn't helping you at all, you know."

Hugo did know that. But either way he continued to stare at Charlotte instead of building up the courage to go and talk to her instead. But it wasn't like he was doing it purely because he was scared that he would get rejected by her, or anything. No, it was because they were in the _library._ Therefore, it would be rude for him to go over to Charlotte and begin a conversation. He would just be interupting all the people who were in the library to study.

At least, that was what he was telling himself, instead of admitting to himself that was put in Hufflepuff over Gryffindor for a reason.

Nicole snapped her fingers in front of his face, in a desperate attempt to get Hugo to look away from that bimbo. Okay, so maybe _bimbo_ was a bit of a over-exaggeration. Fine, it was a _complete_ over-exaggeration. Charlotte was more of the nerdy type, with short chocolate brown hair and big, bulky black glasses that framed her blue eyes. She was even, if Nicole was prepared to admit it, _pretty_ to some boys. Though, her brains usually scared them off, as most boys just wanted a good snog from girls. Nicole sighed. _Why are all boys looking for a good snog with girls, or just looking at the wrong ones?_

Henry shook his head in exasperation when Nicole's finger snapping didn't work to distract Hugo from the girl _reading a book_ just a few tables away from them. It wasn't like she was reaching for a book on a high shelf, causing boys to get a good look at her legs and maybe up her skirt- Henry stopped in his thoughts and kicked Hugo in his shin to get him to look away.

Hugo whipped his head away from Charlotte and gripped his now throbbing shin, now deciding that glaring at Henry was more important then drooling over Charlotte.

Nicole silently thanked Henry for finding a way to make Hugo turn away.

"Anyways, now that you have come back to planet Earth, let's get back to teaching you some spells for the competition," Henry said shortly and he dropped yet _another_ book on the table.

Hugo groaned. "Oh come on guys, we have been at this for, what, two hours now? My brain is fried! Let's just call it a day already."

"Fine by me. I have to do rounds with Joshua soon anyway," Nicole agreed, as she began to get up out of her chair.

Henry sighed and followed her lead; Hugo was smiling and was happy that both of his friends decided to drop the whole _study session_ for the competition.

"See you boys later," Nicole said as she left the library to meet up with Joshua for Prefect rounds.

"Try to keep your hands to yourself out there! Don't want to traumatize any first years by having them stumble upon you two snogging furiously!" Henry joked as Nicole continued down the corridor.

"Remember: you two are Prefects! You have to set a good example!" Hugo joined in, but the words sounded wrong to him as it left his mouth.

"Oh, fuck off!" Nicole growled, her words echoing back to the boys who were now laughing with one another.

"Come on, we should probably get going back to the common room, it's almost curfew," Hugo said once the laughter between himself and Hugo subsided.

"Oh no," Henry said as he blocked Hugo from leaving the library just yet, "before we go back, you are going to _at least_ have a conversation with Charlotte."

Hugo looked at him in horror. "I-I... but-I, and uh..." he stuttered. "The ball isn't until Christmas! It's only November right now!" He managed to blurt out.

"Exactly, that means that you have had 2 _months_ to ask her and you haven't." Henry smirked. "I'm just trying to help you here dude."

"Feels more like you want to watch me fail," Hugo muttered.

Henry smirked at him. "Come on," he coaxed, grabbing Hugo's arm and dragging him towards Charlotte, against Hugo's many protests and swears. "I'm not going to let you leave this library until you talk to her, so stop struggling already." With one final push forward, Hugo was only a few steps away from Charlotte and Henry was leaning on a bookshelf. "Go," he said once more, before he disappeared behind all the bookshelves, and left Hugo there alone to suffer.

Hugo was sure that his face was red and that there were little droplets of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. He looked over at Charlotte and tried his best not to run away in fear. _Why must this be so fucking hard?_

Her eyes were focued and intent on the book in front of her with a strand of her chocolate brown hair behind her ear. Her glasses were on the tip of her nose, but it didn't look like she was intent of pushing them back up, being so focused on the story she was reading. Hugo stood there for a moment, seemingly paralyzed there whilst looking at her. She hadn't noticed him yet. Her eyes wandered to the next page and then they flickered. Her face looked puzzled and she looked up.

Hugo quickly started walked in the direction of another bookshelf and looked away. By the time he had gotton a safe distance, her blue eyes were looking for the sudden distraction that had brought her mind to stray from her book back into the real world. She stared for a few more seconds until she lowered her head and started reading again. When Hugo knew it was safe, he peeked his head around the bookshelf he was hiding behind and sighed.

He felt a sudden breath on his shoulder and forced himself to take his vision off of the beautiful girl. Henry was standing behind him, his eyes clearly showing disappointment and he said, "Is _that_ what you call asking a girl out? No wonder you haven't had a girlfriend before."

Hugo gave him an exasperated look. "You said I only needed to talk to her! Not ask her out!"

"Well, I've changed my mind, now go on and make a move already." And then he walked off casually, probably finding another bookshelf to hide behind so he could watch Hugo try to ask Charlotte to the Yule Ball.

Hugo finally stopped gawking in place and forced himself to walk up to her and say something, _anything._ His feet were bringing him closer and closer and when she saw him, she looked up, closed her book, and smiled. _Well, that's a good sign, right?_ But suddenly, he forgot his name, and then he forgot how to talk. When he tried to say something, it sounded slurred.

She looked at him curiously and asked, "Um, Hugo? Are you alright?"

His mind was brought back to reality, but his nerves didn't disappear. "Y-yeah Charlotte, everything's fine. Better than fine actually. Which is hard to believe considering this whole Quawizard Tournament thing and how I got entered into it even though I never put my name, and how..." Oh great, now he was beginning to ramble. He brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck and forced himself to stop talking, "Yeah, so all-in-all, everything's great." _What am I going to do? What am I supposed to say now? I have already embarassed myself in front of her enough for the day._ He brought his hand back down to his side and forced himself to stop looking at the ground and look her straight in the eye.

"Uh, Charlotte, so um... I was wondering well..." _Well wasn't this going great?_ "How are you doing?" He chickened out.

"Oh fine," she answered, apparently unfazed by all his stuttering. "I have been practically living here lately because of OWLS coming up this year. I swear, the teachers are trying to kill us this year with all the homework they have been giving us." A small laugh escaped her mouth, which it made it impossible for Hugo not to start laughing along with her.

"At least the Tournament will be soon this month so at least we will all have a distraction from all this work. Not to mention the ball coming up too. I bet the first task is going to be really hard; at least it sounded that way when Morgan was talking about it with her friends in the common room last night."

Hugo forgot all about his nerves for a moment as he took in Charlotte's words, "Wait, Morgan knows what the first task is?"

Charlotte furrowed her brow in confusion. "I thought that the competitors knew that," Hugo racked his brain for a time when anyone had told him that, "then again, maybe Morgan's father just told her."

"Did you happen to hear what exactly the first task was?"

"Um... I did hear her saying something about the forbidden forest... but no, I didn't hear her specifically say what the task was. I just know that her voice was very solemn, and her friends were all going 'oh my gosh that's awful' every five seconds. It was quite annoying actually."

Hugo's eyes trailed away from her as he thought about what she said. _I need to go tell Nicole and Henry that! And Rose and Albus! I don't have much time to prepare anymore! Oh my god, I'm going to die, aren't I? But what could this task be? The forbidden forest... oh god, there are a lot of ways that could end badly..._

"Oh gosh, I have made you feel awkward talking about this, haven't I? I'm sorry, I won't talk about it anymore," Charlotte apologized, snapping Hugo out of his thoughts.

"No, no, it's okay," Hugo said quickly. _I don't want to make her feel stupid._

 _"Anyway,"_ she tried to change the topic as quickly as she could, _I don't want to make him feel uncomfortable,_ "was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

 _Might as well get it over with now._ "Um, uh, well now that you bring it up.." _Do I look as completely_ stupid _as I feel right now?_ "I was wondering, Charlotte, if you... wereplanningtogotothedance?" His words ended up jumbled together as he chickened out at the last minute.

She let her curiousity show as she tried to make out his fast words, but did not comment on it. "Yeah, and I cannot wait for it either! It's going to be so nice to have a day to just have some fun and forget about all this dumb school work!" _Her smile is absolutely captivating_ , Hugo found himself thinking.

"And are you planning on going with anyone?" Hugo asked, silently begging that her answer would be _'of course not Hugo, not when I could go with you!'_ or something else along those lines where she would admit his undying love for him. But, then again, a simple ' _no'_ would work too.

"Well there is this one guy... but he wouldn't ever want to go with someone like me - I mean, I'm just some nerdy Ravenclaw in his eyes I bet!" She let out a small laugh here, that broke Hugo's heart a little bit. "But it doesn't really matter to me anyway, I'm going whether I have a date or not."

"Does this _guy_ happen to be a Hufflepuff?"

She widened her eyes. "Oh, am I _that_ transparent? I bet everyone knows who it is, don't they? Oh my god." Her cheeks had flared a bright crimson and she was looking everywhere but at Hugo as she tried to hide her face.

"Relax, Charlotte, I don't know who it is, I was just trying to guess. I doubt anyone else knows who it is." _But right now there is a good chance that it_ could _be me!_

She let out a deep breath and put her hand on her chest. "Oh thank _Merlin._ Gossip travels in this school like fiendfyre, I swear! I was really worried for a second there." She took another deep breath before continuing, "but you are in Hufflepuff, right Hugo?"

 _Uh oh,_ _I don't like where this is going. This doesn't sound_ anything _like her announcing her undying love for me._ He nodded.

"Do you think you could put in a good word for me with Chad, you know, Chad Carmichael?" Her voice was soft-spoken and shy, her face a bright red color now - even more so than Hugo's hair, which was quite the accomplishment.

 _Chad. Chad bloody Carmichael. Of_ course _she liked_ him. _Why wouldn't she? He was Hufflepuff's wonder-boy! You know, the boy that everyone wondered_ 'how the hell did _he_ become a Hufflepuff?' _He was a star quidditch player, and one of the smartest in his class. He does_ well _with the ladies too. I don't think that I have ever seem him when his face wasn't attached to some girl's. Well, except for at quidditch matches - Chad alone was probably the reason we had won the house cup last year, since he had done so well earning points in quidditch, and in class too._

Hugo tried to hide his disappointment as best he could, but she figured that it must be showing through. "Yeah, course," he said, trying to sound as upbeat as he did a second ago. He was pretty sure that his efforts were futile though, as his voice slightly cracked.

"Anyways, I should be going," he tried again, suddenly wishing that he could be anywhere, _anywhere_ , but here. "You know, gotta prepare for the competition coming up soon!" He tried to sound upeat as he laughed lightly, but it was a strained laugh that said anything but. He sighed, giving up his attempts to look upbeat anymore, "See you later." He bolted before she could say anything else, and he would just end up embarassing himself any more than he already had.

* * *

"Hey Hugo, how'd you do with Charlotte? Are we three going be triple dating?" Henry said gesturing to Nicole as Hugo walked in to the common room.

Hugo just groaned and laid across the empty couch, head buried in the couch cushion.

"Oh, that bad huh?" Henry said, his voice changing from pride to sympathy, "sorry, dude, that sucks. What happened?"

Hugo began to explain while Nicole tried her best not to smile at his failure, and Henry tried not to laugh. "So now, not only do I not have a date, but I am also helping the girl of my dreams get a date with _Chad."_ he spat out the name as if it was venom on his tongue.

"Oh, that's a shame dude, I was really hoping we would all be triple dating together. Well, looks like its just you and I, Nicole," Henry said, turning to face Nicole now.

"Wait," Hugo interrupted, Henry's words finally sinking in as he turned to face Nicole as well, " _you_ got a date?"

"You say that as if I am completely repulsive to date," Nicole said with a frown as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sorry," Hugo mumbled. "But _who asked you?"_

"Well, not that it is any of your business, Joshua happened to ask me last night," Nicole's voice got softer and softer as she continued on.

"JOSHUA?" Hugo nearly shouted, attracting the attention of several other Hufflepuffs in the common room. He immediatly lowered his voice, "why would you want to go with _him?"_

"Well why would I _not!_ " Nicole said defensively as she stood up, "you are the one who is constantly bothering me about how I should date him, so how is me going to ball with him any different!"

Hugo stood up too. "Because I never thought that you would actually want to go out with him! You could do so much better!"

"How is he not good for me? He is prefect, gets good grades, he's super funny, and just the other day you were hanging out with him just fine! He even helped you with that spell in DADA, now you can practically preform it with your eyes closed! Why are you now saying that he is a bad person?"

"I'm not saying that he is necessarily a bad person! I just don't think he is right for you," Hugo mumbled, realizing that his argument was really weak. _Why was I angry anyway? Nicole can date whoever she wants, it's not my business at all. So why do I feel the urge to find and kill Joshua right now?_

"Why the hell are you so angry about this anyway?" Nicole was apparently thinking along the same lines as Hugo was.

"I-I- umm.. I.." Hugo stuttered as he tried to figure it out for himself. Then it hit him, _Joshua was still hung up over his old girlfriend._ And this wasn't just an excuse that he made up because he was jealous ( _BECAUSE I'M NOT)_ but because it actually made sense when Hugo thought about it. The way that Joshua was looking at her in class, the way that he reacted so rashly when Hugo called him out on it. _He was just going to use Nicole so that he could get Olivia back. "_ He is still in love with his ex-girlfriend Olivia!" He blurted out.

Instead of going on a wild rampage after Joshua like Hugo expected Nicole would do, she merely let out a harsh laugh. "Where did you come up with that lie? What are you going to tell me next? That Rose and Scorpius are _actually_ dating?" She let out another harsh laugh that could rival a villian's, and Hugo was brought back to his thoughts of Joshua being a villian yesturday. _Well now those thoughts seem rather fitting._

"I'm not lying!"

"Oh, then where are Scorpius and Rose, I must congratulate them."

"Not about Scorpius and Rose!" Hugo grabbed Nicole's arm as she tried to walk past him and towards the common room door. "About Joshua! Nicole, you have to believe me! He is just using you to get Olivia back. He's scum."

"You _know_ I hate lying," she hissed at him.

"And thats why I'm not."

Nicole wrenched her arm from his grip as if his touch burned her. "Next time you lie to me, at least come up with something more beliveable." She began to walk away from him, but then turned around on her heel, "I'm not mad at you."

"Really?" Hugo asked in awe.

"No, that's an example of _good lying."_ Then she left the common room, and Hugo stared after her with wide eyes. Perhaps if she had stayed a moment longer things would have worked out differently, and Hugo might have just started snogging her on the spot, 'cause in the moment Hugo realized that, while it wasn't only because Joshua was scum, but because he was jealous that he had asked Nicole before he could.


	8. Chapter 8

"You _must_ be screwing with me."

Hugo was in the library; an occurance that took place more often now that the first task of the tournament was approaching so rapidly. Rose, upon hearing the news of the task date, rushed him to the library with Scorpius and Albus in tow, to desperately try to find some sort of spell that could potientally save her little brother's life out in the forbidden forest. She had just placed nearly 12 books, all stacked together so it equaled to be just about a meter tall, in front of Hugo. After much spluttering and dramatic hand motions he was able to ask her if this was just some prank and if she was just screwing with him.

"Nope, she's not, 'cause she's too busy screwing Scorp," Al replied with a smirk before Rose could get any word in. Both Rose and Scorpius flushed a deep red and looked in the opposite direction of one another so neither would notice how incredibly flustered the other was.

"We are not dating, Al," Rose mumbled, determined to get the words out no matter how feeble.

"And we are certainly not screwing - or shagging, or snogging, or whatever else you are thinking in that deranged mind of yours," Scorpius stated, his voice going from a mumble to proper volume as he gained more confidence in his words as he continued on. Proper level, though, was apparantly too loud for a library as Madam Pince shushed them.

"Its a bloody Saturday - nobody else is in the library! Theres no point to shush us, its not like we are disturbing anybody else," Scorpius whispered fervently to the others.

"You would think she would understand. She knows that the first task is next week and that Hugo happens to be in them," Rose agreed in a hushed voice.

"Please, that old bat-" Rose gave Albus a pointed look. "That librarian that has been doing such a great job for a long time now, hears everything. Its weird. I mean, aren't human supposed to loose their hearing as they get older?"

"Ah, that's where you are wrong. She's clearly not human," Hugo said. Rose elbowed him causing him to let out a yelp while Albus and Scorpius laughed. Rose quickly shot them a glare and they shut up, looking adshamed, but silently laughing when she turned her attention away.

"She's a fine librarian," Rose defended, "she can just be a little..."

"Annoying?"

"Bothersome?"

"Irritating?"

"Oh would you guys shut up." All the boys smirked with one another before Hugo turned back to the pile of books in front of his face, blocking his view of anything that happened to be in front of him at the time. Which was probably for the best, considering that Joshua was doing his homework in the library at the same time. If those books had not been placed in Hugo's vision, he probably would have taken his chance to kill Joshua then - but then again, killing him would only cause Madam Pince to shush him, not for Nicole to forgive him.

Nicole had been ignoring Hugo for about two days now; alla in all, it was killing the both of them, but they were both too stubborn to apologize to one another. Nicole only spoke to Henry when Hugo wasn't around, and fled the area if Hugo ever tried to approach. Which he never did, because he was ignoring her just as much as she was ignoring him. Henry just had to deal with the both of them, being the middle man. He wanted to believe that he knew everything about why exactly they were mad at each other, but while he had suspected the both of them to get together one day, he would have never suspected it to happen this soon.

Because he just had to realize how he felt about her when she was ignoring him, it was just his luck. Yes, it was very lucky that Hugo didn't see beyond what the books were blocking him from seeing, because then all his control may have been lost in a few mere seconds, and Joshua's life would be lost as well... along with any chance he had with Nicole.

But Hugo didn't know that, so glaring at the pile of books in front of him seemed completely reasonable instead of thanking Rose for putting them there.

"But seriously," Hugo tried to get back on topic to the competition, since it was _his_ life that was at stake here, " _twelve_ books? Is that really all necessary?"

"Yes it is necessary, Hugo!" Rose said exasperated. She pointed to three of the book that were at the bottom of the pile. "These books are about the forbidden forest, why it was made, how it was made, what animals have been mythed to be lurking there; all the information that you are going to need to know to be able to go into the forbidden forest and come back unharmed."

"And all the other books..." Hugo let his question hang in the air while giving Rose a look that clearly said 'we-don't-need-these-books-you-are-overreacting-get-these-books-away-from-me-NOW'.

"The other books are more information about the animals mentioned in those first 3 books, and the spells you need to know to defeat them; also just some basic spells, and advanced spells that we are just learning ourselves in 7th year."

" _Fun..."_ Hugo growned, still glaring at the books as if his eyes would cause the books to suddenly catch fire, _or the entire library..._

"Sadly, I don't think that there's any sort of magic that will make you able to shoot lazers from your eyes," Scorpius voiced, almost as if he was just reading Hugo's mind.

"Yeah, but there is magic that makes you able to read people's mind, and I am absolutely convinced that you just used that type of magic on me." Hugo looked at him suspiciously, albeit in a mocking way. Scorpius scoffed, but gave him a crooked smile nonetheless.

"I swear, its like you guys purposely make it easy for me to make jokes about your dating choices," Albus muttered, but loud enough for Scorpius to hear and smack him on the arm.

"Lets get to work, shall we?" Rose spoke up, handing Hugo the first of the books.

 _This was going to be a long day._ And it was true, it was going to be a long day, just like the 5 days following it as the competition approached. Hugo felt like his brain was going to overload and possibly just explode before he even got the chance to go out there and compete. He was sure that everything that Rose tried to teach him would just escape his mind the moment he got out there.

His doubts were interrupted as Henry sat on the couch next to him. He gave Hugo a look that clearly said 'the-hell-are-you-doing-sitting-here-when-you-could-be-apologizing-to-Nicole'. While Henry had lived with being the middle man for the first few days, after the fifth day he became slightly agitated with it all, by the sixth day Henry had begun bugging the both of them to just apologize to the other.

"Stop giving me that look," Hugo mumbled as he sunk lower into the couch and closed his eyes. _Why couldn't this day just end already? Why couldn't this week just end already? Why couldn't this competition just end already?_

"I know that you are irritated enough already with having to deal with your sister freaking out this entire week, but can you really blame her? Dude, you only have _two days_ left until the first task is here. You have to prepare, and you know what else you have to do? Apologize to Nicole." It wasn't that Henry was impatient, he was just sick of his friends not talking to one another. Their fights effected him too, because his relationship with them was strained when they couldn't all hang out together.

Usually it was him that had to find a way to patch up their fights, but for being such a smart guy his best plan so far that he could come up with was just annoying the both of them until they gave in and apologized to one another; this was the second plan he had come up with. The first plan involved polyjuice potion, and since it took a month to brew he gave up on the idea.

"Nope," Hugo replied easily, just like he had been doing for the past 2 days Henry had been bothering him about this.

Henry did have a third plan, but the only problem with that plan was that it was slightly unethical, a little cruel. _But desperate times call for desperate measures._

"Hugo the competition is in 2 days now-"

"Really, I had no idea." Hugo's voice was coated in sarcasm, but Henry just ignored his interuption.

"So that means that tomorrow is the only day you have left to what you need to before the competition."

"So?"

"Wouldn't you want to be okay with Nicole during the first task? You don't want to go through the mostly _deadly_ thing you have ever experienced while continually thinking 'what if I die, then the last words I ever had with Nicole were about some stupid argument I had with her'. No, you don't want that. I say you should just go and apologize to Nicole now so you don't have to be worried about that." _The 'you-might-die' card was definitely a cruel card to play considering the situation going on right now, but it needed to be done,_ Henry left the common room then so Hugo could ponder over his words in peace, _It better work, because if this plan doesn't work then I don't what will._

"Urgh," Hugo moaned, placing his hands over his head. He was almost sure that it was going to explode now. _This competition is ruining everything, why did I agree to it in the first place? Oh yeah, that's right, I **didn't**_ , Hugo thought sourly. His sour thoughts were the only thing keeping him from going into a frustrated rage, trashing everything in site while thinking about how terrible his life is.

 _Perhaps Henry is right,_ Hugo pondered for a moment, _might as well be on good terms with Nicole before I die._ And Hugo did truly believe he was going to die. He knew that once he was thrown into the first task, everything that his friends tried to teach him would disappear and all that left was going to be fear. He was no Gryffindor, he knew that it would take a Professor to actually push him into the forest for him to actually begin the competition.

The chances of him actually winning were slim enough; the chances of him dying meant more to him, as there was a high chance of that. There was no point in trying to actually win the competition, even if he was 17 the chances of him winning were practically none, so surviving was the main task here.

Anyway, Morgan was the clear answer for the winner. Even if her father wasn't giving her hints to what the tasks were, she was still the most likely to win out of the 4 of them. She was a Ravenclaw, she was smart, she would find a way to win over all of them. Juztin was brave, but with his arrogance and empty head, he probably wouldn't get too far. Auld... yeah, that would never happen.

Funny how prejudices are still alive, even after a war.

Well, the prejudices may be alive, and live for awhile more, but from all that Hugo knew, he was going to be dead soon. _I'll find Nicole tomorrow and patch things up... or at least try to._

* * *

In Hugo's defense, he did try to find Nicole, but right when he spotted her, he was whisked away from his half eaten breakfast and headed to the library for the last minute learning before the competition.

"But- but-" he tried to argue with his sister, but Albus responded first. "Dude, she found a way to sneak into the Slytherin boys dorm room to wake Scorpius and I up early for this, you aren't bailing on us," but then Albus moved closer to Hugo and whispered in his ear, "though it was pretty funny this morning. Rose's face was priceless when she tried to wake up Scorp and he started mumbling her name in his sleep."

They both chuckled while Rose and Scorpius gave them curious glances as to what they were whispering about.

Hugo's second chance to speak to Nicole was during lunch. After he, Albus, and Scorpius begged for a break, Rose gave in because she was hungry as well. Hugo saw Nicole sitting by herself and he began to approach her confidently, before he realized that wasn't sure exactly what he was going to say to start this conversation without her running away from him in disgust. That hesitation, no matter how small of time it was, was enough time for Joshua to take the empty seat next to Nicole and ruin Hugo's chances of talking to her now.

Hugo cursed under his breath, whether the curse was directed at Joshua or himself, he wasn't sure, but nonetheless he was irritated that he couldn't seem to even _talk_ to Nicole, let alone patch things up with her. _This is Henry's fault, he was the one who convinced me last night that I needed to patch things up with her._

Henry chuckled at the glare Hugo gave him while he sat down next to him, nearly at the other end of the table from Nicole.

But, you know what the say, third time's the charm.

He had just entered the common room and plopped onto the nearest empty couch. It wasn't hard to find an empty couch either, because at this hour everyone was asleep. It was sometime around 3am Hugo guessed, and he couldn't sleep. He had tried everything possible to try and get him to sleep, and each attempt failed just as miserably as the last.

Now, in his last desperate attempt to find sleep, he stared the fire. The fire is usually very peaceful, relaxing to look at. Hugo has fallen asleep looking at it before, usually before a difficult test the next day that he had been worrying about, but today it was different. While looking at the fire all he could think about was if there was going to be fire involved in the next task, the task that was going to be taking place in only a few hours from now.

Hugo knew that he should be sleeping, be well-rested for today's activity, but no matter what he did he wouldn't be able to sleep.

But he continued to look at the fire intently, as if all of life's answers were there in that fire. So when a head suddenly appeared in that fire, he had place a pillow in front of his mouth to stop him from screaming so loud that everyone would wake up, all just because he was having an illusion. It had to be an illusion, from his sleep-deprived mind, because heads don't just pop out of fireplaces like that, especially heads that look like his Uncle Harry. Perhaps this was actually a dream he was having, and he had unknowingly found sleep while lying on the Hufflepuff couch.

"Hugo? Is that you? Thank Merlin, I have been popping in for hours hoping that I would be able to catch you before the competition today." It definitely sounded like something his Uncle Harry would say, even his voice sounded identical!

Hugo just stared at the fireplace with complete indifference, _this is just a dream, heads just don't pop out of fireplaces, not even in Hogwarts._

"Hugo, as much as you want to believe it, you are not dreaming right now," Dream-Uncle Harry stated. "Go ahead, pinch yourself if you have to." Hugo looked at his uncle curiously, before doing as he told and pinched himself on the arm.

Nothing changed, and Hugo was sure that he was awake now. _Well, we are wizards afterall..._

"What's going on?" Hugo asked (not a dream) Uncle Harry as he leaned forward on the couch to hear his Uncle even better.

"Well I know that the competition would be happening today and I wanted to talk to you before it started. To give you some advice from my own experience in this game."

"How did you know that I would be here?"

Uncle Harry let a small smile show, but it wasn't exactly a _happy_ smile. "Because it's the same thing I did the night before the competition." Hugo wasn't exactly sure how to answer that. His uncle still had the (sad?) smile on his face, and in all honestly it scared him a little. Harry never showed any sort of sadness regarding his past, just relief that it was over. "I have to say that this common room is nice; I have never been in the Hufflpuff common room before."

"So what did you want to say to me?" Hugo finally settled on saying, in any attempt to get his Uncle to look normal and serious like he usually did.

"Well I have heard from the ministry of what the competition will be-"

That's when it hit Hugo that maybe his Uncle knew all along what the competition was going to be, and that he never bothered asking him. "Do you know what I will be fighting in this competition?" He blurted out before he time to consider it anymore.

"You don't know?" Harry looked shocked, but then his face turned into one of understanding. Hugo didn't have the same help that he did when he was a child. Hugo just stared at him dumbly, waiting for his Uncle to tell him all about the competition, so maybe it would feel like he did all that studying for something.

"Well yes you are going into the forbidden forest to fight-"

"Hugo?" Nicole's voice lightly sounded as her footsteps could be heard as she approached.

"I have to go." Harry said sharply, "I can't be seen talking to you. The ministry forbidded me from it - they didn't want you to win because of some advice I gave you."

"You're Harry Potter, what's the ministry going to do to you if you talked to me?" Hugo sounded a little smug at this, because he knew that his Uncle practically ran the entire ministry (even though no one realized it).

"The ministry is cracking down on people who are going against their rules, and I don't want to be in the middle of that right now." Harry looked nervous, another expression that worried Hugo, "I have to go. Good luck."

Nicole appeared at the front of the tunnel that lead to the girls dorm, "what are you doing up? Who are you talking to?"

"Umm..." Should he tell her about the talk his uncle just gave him? He looked at the fire fleetingly to see if his uncle's head was still there, but it seemed that his uncle left as soon as Nicole entered the room.

Nicole scoffed at him before he had time to formulate an answer. "Just practicing for your next interview I suspect." She started back up the stairs again and Hugo almost let her go up there, accepting the fact that they would never become friends again before he died tomorrow. _Before he died tomorrow..._

"Nicole!" Hugo whipped around in his seat and watched as she descended down the stairs once again.

"Are you nuts? Be quiet!" She hissed. "Do you want the entire castle to wake up?"

"Sorry," he whispered, "but I wanted to talk to you."

She stood up straighter and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She raised an eyebrow and looked down at him slightly. "I'm listening."

"It's just that... well the competition is today, and I don't know whats going to happen, and in case... in case something _bad_ happens to me, I just want to know that... that you..."

"Don't worry, Hugo," she dropped her arms to her side and let her stoic face slide off, "you'll be okay today. And in case something does go wrong, then yes I forgive you - we're still friends."

Hugo let a smile light up his face. "That's great." Not amazing, no, what would be amazing would be if she declared his love for him right there and now.

"Now get some sleep Hugo. It looks like you haven't slept at all this night. You're going to need all the sleep you can get for today."

"Yeah, you're right."

"I always am," she laughed lightly, "now get to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

_Yeah, see me in the morning before I die tomorrow._

"And you'll be fine." She squeezed his arm slightly before turning around and going back to her own dorm.

_If her touching my arm for a few seconds causes my heart to race this fast, who knows how fast my heart rate will be during the competition today._


	9. Chapter 9

Morgan, Juztin, Jennifer and Hugo were all lined up in front of the Forbidden Forest. Morgan was scanning the forest from the spot she was standing in, trying to figure out as much as she could before the canon sounded. She was standing tall and strong, looking ready for anything. By how confident she looked, one could easily mistake her for a Gryffindor, but the blue and bronze outfit she was wearing prevented them from thinking such things. Her confidence was also scaring her competitors - even if they would never admit it.

The actual Gryffindor here, Juztin, had his arms crossed in front of his chest, and was pretending to look as if none of this fazed him whatsoever. As if fighting an unidentified thing in the forbidden forest was something he did everyday. Like this is exactly what he has trained for. Like he has trained for this everyday for the past few months. And suddenly, for just a split moment, his confidence makes his competitors begin to think that he did.

Jennifer was keeping her head high as well. Desperately trying to show that she was not scared, and that she could handle this. She merely just smiled and waved to her friends as the entire Slytherin house chanted her name, and her sister squealed her name so that it was barely understandable. Hugo could barely make out her saying "you got this sis!" before she started mindlessly screaming again.

Speaking of Hugo, he had a different tactic than the others. Instead of looking confident and cool, he was just trying his best not to throw up. Rose and Lily were both cheering for him in the Gryffindor section, while Albus and Scorpius were cheering in the Slytherin section. His other family had come in to see the competition as well, which meant that all his cousins and aunts and uncles and parents were scattered about in the crowd, watching, waiting to see exactly it was that he had planned to win this competition. Afterall, Harry won this competition when he was only 14, so Hugo should be able to do this at age 15 easy.

At least, that is what he assumed they were thinking, and how he would love to point out the them that he didn't destroy a dark lord when he was a baby.

"Champions," McGonnagal called, "come with me." She led them over to the champions tent, which isn't as glamorous as it sounds, in Hugo's opinion. He expected it to be a huge tent, filled with expensive furniture and beautiful decorations. He was a little disappointed when the tent seemed to be quite boring inside. Filled with average furniture and no decorations. And he can't leave either, because outside of the tent are a bunch of reporters, all lined up waiting to see who will leave, who will be a wimp (and really, they are all expecting him to be the coward anyway). Or worse, his family is outside, and the last thing he wants to see is a cousin of his telling him that this will be an _easy_ task for him and that he was will _easily_ win.

How come everyone thinks that this will be easy? This is far from easy, but it seems that he is the only person who understands this, because when his parents and Uncle Harry stumble into the tent the first thing that they all say is that this competiton isn't as scary as he thinks and that it will actually be pretty easy. He knows that they are lying, but doesn't have the guts to call them out on it. Because his uncle's face has gone sullen and his shoulders have tensed, and Hugo would like nothing more than to have that look disappear.

"Good luck, Hugo," his mother says when the competition is about to start and they are being rushed out of the tent. "You got this," his dad says, with a proud smile on his face, as if Hugo has already won this entire competition already. Hugo smiles at them both as they leave, but once they are out of his line of sight, the smile falls and he looks up at his uncle, suddenly feeling very small even though his uncle was only a few inches taller than him. "This isn't going to be as easy as they all say, is it?" Hugo asked quietly. He already knows the answer, and his uncle's sorrow face is proof that he is right.

"No, no it's not," his uncle answers, even though he doesn't really need to, "but I know that you are prepared for this. I'm sorry I couldn't help you out either, but..." he looked at the minister officials briefly before deciding that they would not be able to hear him, "maybe I can help you out on the next one." A smirk lit up his face, and Hugo tried to return the look but wasn't able to do much more than a grimace. "You'll be fine. Just... be aware of what exactly is around you."

"Champions, gather 'round!" One of the ministry officials called out. Harry took this as his cue to leave, and gave Hugo one last look before he left. It wasn't the same look that everybody else had gave him though; it wasn't filled with pride and hope that he would win, it was filled with sadness and grief that he could easily do much worse than loose. Hugo wouldn't let his uncle see him so unnerved though, so he kept up a hopeful smile until he had left, and he was alone again.

"C'mon Weasley," Jennifer said gruffly, but not rudely, which caused Hugo a moment of confusion. He forgot about it quickly though, because soon he saw the Ministry officials stern faces, and nerves overtook him again. "The objective of this task is to retrieve something, this will be used a clue to help you prepare for the next task **.** It is located in the middle of the forest. As you can see, horses have been lined up at the beginning of the forest for you to ride to get to the middle of the forest," he gestured outside to where the four horses stood before continuing on, "remember to be careful though, you stand alone, and many things lurk in that forest."

"When the canon sounds," Headmistress McGonnagal started, but was cut off by the sound of the canon going off and Filch giving her an apologenic look. "He's had 30 years since the last competition, and yet he still can't get that canon working correctly," she mumbled under her breath before continuing on to the young competitors. "The competition is about to begin."

Hugo followed behind the other competitors to where the horses stood and climbed on the one between Morgan and Jennifer. He was going to have to ride the horse bareback, as if riding it with a saddle would have been easier. He never ridden a horse before, so it's not like he would have known the difference. He can see the discarded saddles and bridles lying on the ground nearby. They probably got rid of those things to make this more difficult, well more difficult than it already was.

He looked over to Morgan, who looked confident yet slightly uneasy being on the horse. She glanced down every so often, as if she thought it would suddenly transform into a demon and eat her; she also looked towards the bridles and saddles every now and then, and Hugo realized that she must have ridden a horse before and knew the difference. Hugo then looked to his right instead, and saw Jennifer clutching her wand so tightly that her knuckles were white. He looked past Jennifer to see Juztin, who probably looked the most calm out of all the competitors, looking at into the forest as if he couldn't hear a single thing, which Hugo had to admit was a bit impressive. All the screams and chants coming from the crowd was deafening and hard (if not impossible) to ignore. He could barely hear the canon sound with all the noise, but once it did sound everyone become silent (which was even more intimidating then when they were all making noise) and all the champions rushed into the forest.

The sunlight barely showed through all the trees, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust, his horse speeding along the entire time. When he could see clearly again, he didn't see any other champions around him, and he suddenly felt vulnerable and alone. He couldn't hear a single noise except for the rustle of leaves being curshed by the horse's hooves. It was odd to hear such silence, but then again what did they have to cheer for? They couldn't see a single thing, so for the next immeasureable amount of time they were going to sit and wait for someone to come out declaring to be victorious, shaking their prize in their hands, high with the feeling of being alive, because after such a task as this the feeling of being alive is something to be treasured and celebrated.

The feeling of being alive wasn't exactly what Hugo was feeling right now. He felt the same amount of adherlin being pumped into his body, but this wasn't the feeling of being alive, this was the dread of impending death. This feeling was new to him, as it would be to any regular teenager, and he wondered if his other competitors felt it as well. Suddenly, as if sensing his fear, and possibly the fear of his competitors, he heard a loud howl that nearly made him fall off his horse. It was a good thing he didn't, considering that the horse started speeding off once it heard the noise, trying to get awey from the evil it sensed making that horrid noise.

Hugo just let the horse run off wherever it wanted to, because he didn't know where to go, so perhaps he should just let the horse lead him to place it deemed safe so he could send up his sparks and give up already. After all, it's been two minutes, and he is already shaking with fear. And it's only going to get worse from here.

The horse seems to run for miles before it finally slows down. Hugo looks behind him, and a sudden wave of loss comes over him. He's completely lost in this forest, and if he just wanted to give up now, they'd find him in the middle of the forest having a freakout over... over nothing. There's no monsters that have suddenly just decided to attack him, no traps, nor any other kind of evil Hugo has had to fight off. He hasn't had to use his wand at all, and he looks down at his hand again just to make sure that his wand is still there, since he suddenly is paranoid that some sort of evil will now come at him.

Aren't life or death situations supposed to be enlightening? Aren't they supposed to make you realize the answers to all of life's questions? Aren't they supposed to have some kind of magical effect on you? This entire task, for however long it will take, is going to be a continuous life or death situation. So how come he is feeling even dumber than before, instead of feeling suddenly intelligent? He can't even remember a single spell that Rose has bothered to teach him in the last few weeks, let alone some sort of epiphany of how he could create world peace.

He actually almost feels guilty for having Rose and Albus and Scorpius waste their time trying to tutor him, all to have him forget it when it counted. Also for Henry and Nicole, since they tried to help him as well. But as soon as he thinks of Nicole, the guilt changes into the beginnings of a panic attack. He could die, he could _die,_ and Nicole is out there waiting for him to return happy and uninjured. And not only Nicole is waiting for him, but his cousins, and his aunts and uncles, and his parents. His entire family is waiting for him to come out unscathed and victorious, but what will they think of him if he comes out as a loser, crying even though he gave up., or even worse - like he _dies_.

The possibility of death is so _real_ now that it is all he can think about, and despite how much he may complain about his family, he suddenly has the urge to cling to them and never let go. It's a weird feeling, considering how much he constantly wants to run from his family and never turn back, but now that he thinks about it he feels a certain amount of warmth inside at the though of being with them, being _alive_ with them.

Maybe he was having a life-changing experience, after all.

The horse finally slows down near what seems to be a lake. It's not the black lake, since the black lake isn't anywhere near this region of the forest, and Hugo takes a moment to think about exactly _where the fuck this horse dragged him to._ He didn't even know that there was another lake in the middle of this forest - then again, why would he? It's not like he ever dared to enter this forest before, or was ever planning to do it anytime soon. For all he knows, they could have put this lake in the middle of the forest purely for this competition.

Actually, they _did._ They must have. He has gone through the entire layout of the forbidden forest with Rose multiple times, and a huge lake was never a part of it. But that must mean that this lake is a key part of this competition. What could that be though?

Ok, just look at the facts. That's all he has to do now. He doesn't need to try and remember a vague spell that Rose taught him or that Albus helped him with. All he needs to remember are the facts. Fact 1, he needs to find something (and he hates the ministry and how utterly vague they are)Fact 2, the ministry supplied him with this horse to ride to find it. Fact 3, they needed to add a huge lake in the middle of the forest in order for this task to work. _How the_ hell _do those things connect in any way?_ Is that supposed to mean that the item is hidden inside the lake, and they just supplied the horse for quick transportation to get there? While that makes a lot of sense (and is really the only solution that makes sense), that just seems too _easy._

He feels like he is drowning; drowning underneath all of his confusion, and the pressure of winning, and the fear of dying. Then, suddenly he is drowning, being dragged under the water of this lake. It takes him a moment to realize that he is _actually drowning,_ instead of metaphorically drowning, and he is about to gasp when instead he gets a mouthful of water. He looks to see what dragged him down into the depths of the surprisingly deep lake, and sees that his horse is underneath the water with him. Except that, it's not a horse anymore; it's a kelpie.

Ok, he just needs to look at the facts again. He can do this. He just needs to do this fast before he ends up drowning because of this kelpie. Facts, focus on the facts and not about how he is going to die. Fact 1, kelpie's are shapeshifting water demons native to Britian and Ireland. Fact 2, they can take any form, but usually take the form of a horse with a bullrush mane. Fact 3, they are XXXX according to the ministry of magic's classification. Fact 4, after luring travellers onto their backs, they drag them underwater and eat them.

Oh god, he is going to be eaten alive.

No, he needs to focus on the facts right now. Only the facts. How is it stopped? How can he defeat this beast? How can he defeat this beast while struggling to keep up and keep breathing and not drown? His mind is at a blank for what is possibly the most important detail of all, and he hates himself, _hates himself,_ for not paying more attention in Hagrid's class when they were learning about this a month ago.

He desperately pads at the water and gulps down the air greedily everytime he is lucky enough to get his head up high enough, but he is being pulled down by this demon, not horse but _demon,_ and it's getting harder by the second, and it would just be so easy to _give up._ He notices vaguely that his wand is still in his hand, not that it does him much good. He doesn't know what spell to use, and firing spells at random would be a pointless way to use his last breath as it's not going to stop him from meeting his end.

He bets Rose would know exactly what spell to use right now. She wouldn't be worried about dying, because she would know exactly what to do. She would know exactly what to say, how to move her wrist, how to do everything that Hugo seemed to be unable to do in this moment. But not only Rose would be able to do this, probably the entire family would. Even his friends, like Henry and Nicole.

Oh god, Nicole. He's suddenly filled with all this emotion and it makes it harder to focus on trying to breathe correctly and not to get dragged under the water. It's not like he's remembering very important and meaningful things about her either; just simple things, like her smiling at him after he makes a joke, and how angry she was when he got entered into the competition, or how awful she looked when she cried. It was ridiculous to be thinking about, but it didn't stop him from continuing to think about things like how she forgave him so easily last night. He knew that he must mean a lot to her for her to forgive him so easily. She usually keeps a grudge forever. She still hasn't forgiven Trelawnry for making that crack about how she would die at the hands of a kel-

Holy shit.

He knew what to do now. He knew how to save himself. He knew the spell to use. He even knew the proper wrist movement and everything.

"Accio bridle!" he shouted, pointing his wand up in the air while he got pulled down into the water. He flicked his wand and shot random spells at the kelpie holding him down. Because now he had a reason to try; now he knew what to do.

The kelpie's grip loosened just enough that he could resurface and crawl to land again. The kelpie followed him up of course, but now they were on land where Hugo could breath properly while he fought.

It felt like hours, but really it was more like seconds, that he had to wait before the bridle came flying over to him. When it did though, he was beyond relieved. All he had to do now was a simple placement charm to place the bridle over the kelpie's head. He silently thanked Teddy for reteaching that spell in his class, and -even though he wouldn't ever admit it - he thanked Joshua for helping him learn it.

Once the bridle was on the kelpie and it was rendered harmless, a locket materialized on it's neck. Hugo was hesitant to take it at first, but it seemed that the kelpie had passed out so really there was no danger in it... right? This task is going to cause him to have a irrational fear of kelpies now, he just knew it.

The locket materialized around the kelpie's neck, and, while he was slightly hesitant to take it at first, he grabbed it. Then suddenly he is being pulled by the navel and the world is spinning, and he is no longer in the dark and creepy woods anymore; he is at the entrance to the forest - disorientated from being unknowingly transported by a portkey and the rush of sound from the crowd piercing his ears after the errie silence of the woods - and all he can do is stare dumbly at the crowd of people and try to process all that has happened.

They were all cheering so loudly for him too. He wondered briefly if he was the first one, but then he saw Morgan being treated by Madam Pomfery. Maybe he was the last one, and they were all just cheering for him because they were happy that this task was finally over? He looked around, trying to spot any other competitors, and was shocked to find none of them around. Maybe they were in the stands receiving hugs from their family? Maybe they had even worse injuries and they were in the medical tent where he couldn't see them? Maybe they had...

 _Don't go there,_ he thought harshly; the last thing he wanted to think about was somebody else dying during this task when he had barely escaped drowning himself.

From what he could tell, he was second. _Second._ Not third, or fourth, or - to put it blatantly - dead. He's alive and he did well. _He's alive._ That fact alone caused him to raise his trophy higher in the air and yell out a cry of victory (or was it relief?) and the crowd cheered with him. "Hugo! Hugo!" he could hear being yelled by the Hufflepuff stands, and he could hear boo's coming from the other houses, but that didn't really matter though. People were actually cheering for him, not his sister, or cousins, or anyone else in his family, but for him.

He could get used to this.

But as soon as he had begun to enjoy it, he was swept away by professors and brought to the medical tent where Morgan was being treated. He caught her eye and nodded her head in greeting before her focus turned back to the wound that Madam Pomfery had just finished treating. It was a incredibly deep gash that started right below her left eye. They were probably more of the scrapes since it seemed it came from the claws of an animal, but Hugo didn't want to look again and risk throwing up at the sight of all the blood coming from her body.

He didn't realize how lucky he was until that moment.

"How are feeling? Did you get hurt?" Madam Pomfery was all over him, checking his face and his arms for cuts or bruises.

"I'm fine, not hurt at all," he said quickly.

"That's just the adrenaline talking, dear."

"Seriously, I'm fine Madam Pomfery."

"Well to be safe I will give you a calming draught. With all the stress you have been through today, I bet you need it."

"Really, I'm fi-" he begun to argue, but after such a stressful day such as this, calming down didn't seem like such a bad thing. "Actually, yeah, that sounds great."

He relaxed more on the bed and lied down, downing the potion in one gulp, and feel asleep within a minute.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the first task :)

He doesn't have the best memory, and he was terrible in divination, so Hugo considered himself as more of a person to live in the present. There was so much to do and so much to notice in the present that there was no time to get hung up on the past or future. That's not to say that he doesn't sometimes relive the past or ponder the future of course. Sometimes he is drawn back into his memories when Rose is getting praise from his family, and sometimes he is forced to think about to think about the future when Dominique brags about her job.

His dreams ignore all of this though. His dreams ignore the past, future, and present. In his dreams he explores an alternate universe where he is the one getting praise from his family, and he is the one bragging about his job. It is much better than when he is awake, trying desperately to push away the past and future, and embody the present, since that is his best option.

Once he had woken up from his slumber, all the other competitors were in the tent with him. Morgan's gash looked much better than it did before. Now it was merely a scab, but Hugo didn't want to look at it for too long. It just reminded him of how it looked before, the side of her face covered in blood and loose skin that just gave him the urge to vomit.

He looked over to the other side of the room, where he expected to find Jennifer and Juztin lying. He only saw Juztin and empty bed next to him. For a moment, he panicked, thinking the worst had happened to her. And even though she didn't seem like the best person he had ever met, that certainly didn't mean that she deserved to die in such a way. But before Hugo could really begin to truly think about it, Jennifer walked into the tent.

She didn't walk in alone though, and at her side was Rose.

That wasn't the weirdest part either. They both seemed to be perfectly content with this set-up. Neither of them were smiling or giggling as groups of girls usually do, but they certainly weren't trying to rip each other's heads off. And since Hugo doubted that anyone sent Jennifer to get Rose, they must have _chosen_ to walk together.

Was he concussed? Was this really just a dream or a extremely elaborate illusion?

He shifted slightly to get a better look at the pair, and pinched himself just to be sure. The two didn't take notice of him, probably don't even realize that he is awake; probably just think that he is sleeping just like Morgan and Juztin are. Speaking of which, why is Jennifer the only one awake?

Jennifer collapsed on the empty bed next to Juztin, and Hugo concluded she was awake only because she hadn't slept yet.

"You wanted to talk to me, Weasley?" she said, eyes closed and a grimace that showed she really rather be asleep right now than talking to a Weasley.

Hugo was about to answer _no, I never said that_ until he realized that he wasn't the Weasley she was referring to.

"Yeah, sorry, I don't want to keep you-" Rose started, but she was interrupted.

"Then make this quick."

"Right, well I just wanted to thank you."

Now Hugo was really confused. Why the hell would Rose be thanking her? Rose rarely thanks anyone, let alone this bitch. He vaguely remembered a few weeks ago when Rose got that howler and Jennifer followed her out. Was Rose thanking her for that? No, that was too long ago, it must be something different.

A small smile came across Jennifer's face, probably the most genuine thing Hugo has ever seen pertaining to her, and she said a quiet "no problem" before clearing her throat and ridding the smile off her face. "Now can I sleep?" she snapped, returning to her usual self. Hugo was glad for it. It was too weird to see such a stoic person as smiling (no matter how small it was).

Rose huffed, but left promptly. Jennifer let out a sigh, but not exactly a relieved sigh, but a sad sigh. Obviously there was a lot more going on than he and Rose knew. It seemed only Jennifer really knew all that was going on, but Hugo wasn't going to dare ask her. She wouldn't give him an answer anyway. She can barely tolerate him. Well, he hopes that she can at least tolerate him. He really doesn't know much about her, except that 1) she is a Slytherin 2) she likes Scorpius and 3) Rose hates her. But obviously even what he thought he knew of her is wrong, as it has been proven that Rose does not hate her.

Now, Hugo would like to say that after that scene, he tried his best to find all the clues to what this was all about between Rose and Jennifer, but truth be told, he fell asleep right after Rose left and didn't revisit the idea when he woke again.

Part of the reason he never revisited the idea when he woke up, is that he woke up to his eyes being assaulted with blinding lights. He pinched his eyes shut and tried to roll away from the flashing lights, but they didn't stop, and now yelling was added to the mixture. "Hugo. Hugo, wake up!"

He opened his eyes fully and tried to adjust his eyes to the lights, and eventually was able to make out that it was the flashes of a camera that awoke him. "Wha?" he meant to ask sharply, but it came out as more of a sleepy slur. He cleared his throat and asked again, sounding more commanding than he did the first time.

It was then that he decided to look around the room, and he noticed all of the other wizards standing around giving him weird looks. He realized he was the only person still resting and promptly got up, trying to look tough since every person in the room was either a judge from the ministry or a champion. He raised his head up and set his shoulders, trying to look strong and unfazed, and secretly hoped that the cameras would use these pictures of him instead of the ones where he was desperately trying to hide under his pillow from the blinding flashes.

"Congratulations to all of you for successfully completing the task," a ministry official speaks up, and all the cameras focus on him, "in first place, Ms. Morgan Thakker." He pauses for the applause from the other professors and ministry officials. "Second place, Mr. Hugo Weasley." And then all eyes are on him, including all the cameras, and he tried his best to get over the initial shock of everyone applauding him and to give them all a winning smile; a flash of teeth that said 'ha fuck you reporters, I got _second_ ' and he really hoped that the reporters got the message. Perhaps the next article coming out about the first task would paint him in a new light, instead of the tragic light he was in before.

"Third place," the ministry official spoke up again, and Hugo was hit with the sickeningly loss of all the attention on him, "Mr. Juztin Tazioli." It was then that Hugo really got a look at how Juztin faired after this task. There was an ugly bruise upon his face; it was purple and yellow and swollen and Hugo couldn't decide which was worse: Morgan's gash or Juztin's bruise.

"And in fourth place, Ms. Jennifer Auld." Somehow, she didn't seem to have any battle wounds. It was strange really, that he and Jennifer, the two people who were voted most likely to get themselves killed, ended up with no wounds whatsoever. They were lucky, and Hugo didn't really want to question it, in fear that the next task would end up much differently for himself.

He didn't even want to think about the second task yet. That wasn't until February. He had all the time in the world to figure that out; to figure out what the hell that locket was for.

Speaking of the locket, where is that? He looked over to his bed and the table beside it, but found it was no where over there. He looked to the other champions to see that each of them had a similar looking locket around each of their necks. He looked down at his chest to find the same thing. Madam Pomfery must have put it there while he was sleeping, in preparation for the pictures and interviews she knew were coming.

"Now tell the wizarding world, Hugo," a reporter said, suddenly in front of him, smiling at him like she wanted to blind him with her teeth, "how does it feel to have done so well in the competition?"

Hugo was hit with a wave of emotions. He felt the same rush that the felt when was in front of the screaming crowd, the same rush he felt when he was being pulled down to his death, the same rush when the horse ( _kelpie)_ first ran into the forest. He felt as though he was being choked by the sudden lump in his throat, and he didn't know what to say.

How would his family play off a question like this? He happily thinks that his family _wouldn't_ know what to do in this situation. They have never faced anything like this, and Hugo feels so triumphant to do something that none of them have ever come close to achieving. He doesn't even realize that he is smiling until a camera flashes and he brought back from his thoughts, and is looking at the expectant face of the reporter again.

"It feels _brilliant._ " He says, and he hears the quill writing down his words even though he barely said any. The reporter looks as if she wants to ask more questions, and Hugo begins to panic. What if this interview ends up just like the last one did? What if he's the laughing stock of the Weasley family again? Luckily, the reporter decides not to ask anymore questions and goes over to Jennifer to ask her the same thing. Jennifer smirks and fingers the locket between her fingers. Hugo notices that there is a small snake on the front of the locket. Hugo looks down at his locket again, expecting to see a badger on the front, but instead saw a delicate heart. So if the picture on the front doesn't represent your house, what does it represent? It must be part of the clue for the next task, Hugo thinks, and then dismisses the thought. He didn't want to ruin the happiness he was feeling by beginning to dread the next task. He could just ask Rose and Albus and everyone else about it later.

That brought up the thought of his family again, and he began to wonder where they were. He figured that they would have all been here already, to congratulate him and finally notice what he can do. He didn't see any other family members of the other champions in the tent yet, but that didn't faze him. His family defeated Voldemort; they could be wherever the hell they wanted to be. It didn't matter if they were supposed to be here or not, they could still do it.

It was suddenly weird to wish for his family to be here with him, but he couldn't deny how much he wanted to see their faces. He wanted to see that they were relieved he was alive; happy he had done so well. Then a chill ran down his spine. _What if they didn't do that?_ What if all he got was a quick congratulation before the attention was taking off him. What if they came in here right now, with all the cameras and reporters in the room, and all the pictures were being taken of them instead?

Now he certainly did not want to see his family just yet.

Luckily, fate seemed to be on his side today. He didn't see his family at all that day. He actually didn't see them again until Christmas break, but with all the long letters he got from each of them, it felt like he had seen them before that. Nicole and Henry both came in later though, when all the reporters and officials were gone, and dragged him off to the Hufflepuff tower for a wicked party. Probably all the houses were having parties tonight, despite that Ravenclaw was the winning house for this competition.

He was immediately whisked away from Nicole and Henry when he entered the common room. Everyone wanted to get a hand on him, as if they were attempting to gain power from him just by touching him. He was forced into conversations with people he barely knew, people he could only recognize the face of, but they knew him. They all talked to him like they were best-friends, or even family, and Hugo wondered if this is what has happened to James or Fred when they won quidditch games.

_No, no thoughts of family tonight. This night is going to be about me._ This thought is what made Hugo take the firewhiskey offered to him, trying desperately to rid all thoughts that compared him to his family at this moment. This was his moment to shine after all, and he wasn't going to fuck it up now that he finally had it. He took a few more drinks as he saw them, and continued to smile and nod at whomever was speaking to him this time.

"So Hugo," he couldn't remember the girl's name he was talking to, but she certainly seemed quite friendly by the way she traced her finger up and down his arm, "who are you going to the Yule Ball with?" Her voice was distorted, and his eyes blurred how she looked. She probably was quite pretty, but didn't have a really memorable face, since tomorrow morning he won't remember this conversation or who she is at all.

"No one." His own voice had lost all diction, and the word came out garbled and slurred.

"Aw," she purred, "that's terrible. It's a mystery why a catch like you doesn't have a date yet." Her finger was still moving up and down his arm.

"I'm not a catch." Maybe it's best that he doesn't remember this conversation tomorrow morning, since it is rather embarrassing.

"Oh, sweetheart, yes you are. Everyone knows it now, after the competition." She had moved really close now.

"Nicole doesn't." The girl paused for a moment, her finger lingering lightly right above his wrist, before continuing again.

"Well then she's an idiot."

"No she's not!" He shouted, words still slurred, as he moved away from her. "She's not!"

The girl looked affronted now, and now Hugo had gained attention from nearly everyone in the room still sober enough to listen. "Hugo-" she said quietly before she was cut off.

"You're the idiot," he continued, unfazed by everyone else, "she's not. She's better than you will ever be." And now Nicole's face was in front of his, touching his shoulders begging him to calm down and stop yelling. He smiled at her, her face much more pleasant to look at and her touch much more comfortable than that other girl's. "Come on," she says exasperated, "we should get you to bed."

He's about to argue that _no, this is my party and I'm not going to leave it yet_ but he found that it was far too much to say, and just tried to walked away from her instead. His feet were heavy and he nearly tripped himself if Nicole had not been holding him in the first place. "You're probably right," he conceded, "you're always right."

He let her lead him to his dorm, to his bed, and when the silence was too much, he would break it with a drunken thought. "That girl wasn't very nice." "My grandfather always gets a rubber duck from Uncle Ron for his birthday, but I don't know why." "Muggle things are really complicated. You should teach me about them." "I can't wait to sleep in Binn's class tomorrow. He's very boring." "We should learn about rubber ducks in Muggle Studies." "She called you an idiot. I don't think you're an idiot."

Nicole never said a word, but the latter did make her look at him curiously for a moment.

"You are going to be so hungover tomorrow. You probably won't even remember any of this," she finally says, as she is shoving him onto his bed. "I hope you hold your liquor better for the parties after the next two tasks." She stops talking and gives him a small smile. "Goodnight, Hugo." And then she is gone, just as quick as a dream.

Hugo won't have any dreams tonight. The moment his head hits the pillow he will blackout and forget the evening. He won't remember the girl he yelled at tonight, he won't remember defending Nicole, he won't remember Nicole scolding him for not being able to hold his liquor. Sometimes, it's a good thing that he can't remember, because then it would only be able to haunt him in the future.

Like Nicole's comment for example, about how he should hold his liquor better after the next two tasks. If he remembered this in the future, it would only cause him sadness, because there wouldn't be two parties.


End file.
